One More Time, With Feeling
by starblaz921
Summary: Yet another 'redo' fic. Harry finds himself in the past, can he find the childhood that he had always wanted? WARNING contains corporal punishment, the spanking of children in later chapters, if you don't like, don't read. Please Read and Review!
1. Here We Go Again

**One More Time, With Feeling**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

A/N: Just a warning, this is yet another redo fic, but that is really just the background, not the focus of the story. This is mostly a family fic, and it does contain corporal punishment after this chapter. If that offends you, then I suggest reading another story. There are plenty out there with a similar plot line.

**Chapter 1**

oOoOoOoOo

**Here We Go Again**

oOoOoOoOo

_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, US edition, page 704.**_

_Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to the side, considering the boy standing before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless mouth._

_"Harry Potter," he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the pitting fire. "The Boy Who Lived"_

_None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his-_

_Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear-_

_He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone._

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Boy! Get up! Up! Up! Up!"

Harry awoke with a start, not aware of his surroundings. His head crashed into the ceiling.

'Wha?' He thought dazed. His eyes slowly adjusted to the low lighting. Looking around he quickly deduced his whereabouts.

The cupboard under the stairs.

Harry rubbed his eyes before opening them again to study his surroundings. Unfortunately the image before him didn't change; somehow he was in that bloody cupboard again. He didn't even think that he could fit in there anymore.

Dazed and confused, Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when someone pounded on the cupboard door.

A shrill voice called out, "Get up, you worthless lazy boy! Vernon needs to leave soon, and I won't have your stalling making him late for work. If you're not in the kitchen cooking within five minutes, then don't expect any meals today."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said automatically.

Petunia left with a huff, leaving a confused Harry still in his cupboard.

'I can't still be in my cupboard,' he thought. 'I haven't lived in that thing since I was eleven. What's going on?'

Harry soon realized that he wouldn't get any answers sitting in the cupboard, so he made his way out to the kitchen.

Petunia leveled him with a glare and said, "It's about time! Well? Why are you standing around lollygagging? Start cooking! You don't want Vernon to waste away, do you?"

Harry seriously doubted that anything short of a life-long fasting could make Vernon waste away, but even still, Harry got to work on breakfast. That, at least, was a constant.

Harry made his way to the stove, and his eyes widened as he realized that the stove seemed taller than usual. 'Did the Dursleys get a new stove?' Inspecting the appliance quickly dashed those thoughts. He would recognize that stove anywhere. After all, he had been cooking on it for the last twelve years!

Petunia's piercing voice brought Harry back to the present, and he began to cook. His body was on autopilot, going through the familiar motions of cooking while his mind was a flurry of confusing thoughts. He distinctly recalled Voldemort hitting him with the killing curse. Did that mean that he was dead? Was this Hell?

Harry plated the cooked food and placed the heavily laden plates on the table before sitting down.

"What are you doing?!?" Petunia's shrill voice asked menacingly. "Get up! You've been uncooperative all morning, dragging your feet and all, why Vernon will barely have anytime to eat at all! You don't deserve any meals today."

Harry stared at his Aunt, dumbfounded. She hadn't treated him this badly since before he got his Hogwarts letter. Harry shook off his confusion at the situation and glared at Petunia. He wouldn't be pushed around anymore!

"You don't dare. Dumbledore..."

All the blood drained out of Petunia's face. Her voice quivered as she said, "How do you know that name?"

The previous feelings of bewilderment came back in full force, with this latest bit adding to it, making everything all the more confusing.

"How could I not? He was the headmaster to my school," Harry asked. Nothing was making sense.

Petunia snapped out of her stupor, suddenly grabbed Harry's wrist, and led him to the cupboard under the stairs. The only thing that Harry could think as he was thrown into the cupboard was how much bigger his Aunt seemed.

"You stay in there. Vernon doesn't have time now, but he'll stomp out your freakishness later," Petunia spat out. Then she was gone.

Harry sat in the familiar darkness, utterly lost. He tried the door once to determine that it was locked. Giving a mental shrug, he lay down on the small cot. Exhaustion took over as he fell asleep. Perhaps when he woke up, he would find that this was all a nightmare.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Dumbledore was enjoying a delightful lemon sherbet when one of his myriad of elegant silver instruments started spinning and glowing an ominous red. Alarmed, the elderly wizard investigated. He instantly paled as he realized the significance.

The blood wards were failing!

This would not do, not do at all! Harry would be in danger if his mother's protection were lost. Dumbledore sprung into action, racing over to the fireplace and throwing a pinch of floo powder into the fire.

"Severus Snape!" Dumbledore called out and then stuck his head into the green flames.

A few minutes later, the aged wizard pulled his head out of the fireplace, only to have the dark Potions Master come through a moment later.

"You needed to see me, Albus?" Snape asked.

"Severus, I need for you to investigate the wards on number four Privet drive in Surrey. If you can find out why they are failing and fix it, then do so. If not, I want you to retrieve Harry Potter and bring him here," Dumbledore said calmly, although he was inwardly panicking.

Snape's face darkened. "Potter! Why-"

Dumbledore cut the man off, impatiently. "Severus, please, just do as I say."

Snape didn't miss the pleading tone in the other wizard's voice. Holding back his protests, he nodded his head. "When do I need to go?"

"Now, if possible. The wards are weakening at an alarming rate. They could collapse at any moment," Dumbledore said anxiously.

Snape bit back a sigh and nodded. "Very well."

It was as he turned to leave that Dumbledore's voice called out. "And Severus? If possible, please try to be inconspicuous."

Snape gave another nod and then headed for the castle gates to get out of the anti-apparition wards.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry decided that if this was the afterlife, then he must have done something wrong. He had always thought that when he died that he would see his parents again. But this... if this was Hell, it didn't seem so bad on the surface, but it seemed things would soon get worse.

Harry didn't really like the sound of Vernon coming to 'stomp the freakishness out of him'. Aside from the occasional slap or manhandling, Vernon had never touched him. His stomach grumbled, reminding him of all his missed meals. Judging by how weak he felt, he must have missed more meals then the ones his Aunt had denied him that day. Harry wondered if this was a part of his Hell. He remembered the hunger-filled days from his childhood, but Harry felt more annoyed by it than tortured. He had thought that he had put that behind him now that he was free of the Dursleys.

But 'was' happened to be the operative word. It looked like he couldn't say that anymore. This really must be a subtle Hell.

Harry heard the unmistakable sound of Vernon coming home and tensed up. Would Vernon really beat him? Harry didn't want to find out!

He heard his Aunt discuss his earlier 'odd' behavior from the morning in a hushed tone that Harry had to strain to hear. His Uncle's louder reply filled him with relief, and then a sense of dread. Vernon wanted only to eat dinner and then sleep. He would 'take care' of Harry the next day since it would be Saturday.

Well, that sounded ominous, didn't it? But Harry had no intention of being there in the morning. He had long ago figured out the trick to opening the cupboard door even when it was locked. Now he just had to wait until they were all asleep.

Even though he had slept most of the day, Harry's body was wreaked with fatigue and hunger. It was likely trying to conserve energy by demanding sleep so much. Harry decided that he could sleep and still wake up before the Dursleys, so with that in mind, he rolled over and fell into a troubled sleep.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Snape grumbled as he reached the edge of the castle's wards.

Bloody Potter!

Of course it had to be Potter; the entire wizarding world revolved around the bloody boy-who-lived. He shuddered at the thought of the day the pampered brat would come to Hogwarts. Just like his arrogant father, he would probably act like he owned the school. Severus' mood darkened as he Apparated to Surrey and made his way to Number four Privet drive.

It was rather late at night, so Snape figured it would be safe to pull out his wand. After performing a number of diagnostic spells, the only thing he was able to determine was that the wards were indeed failing. Why Dumbledore had sent HIM was beyond Severus. He was no ward specialist. Still, there might be something wrong with the boy himself. He would have to check in on him to be certain.

Severus incanted the spell that would tell him the status of the occupants of the house, specifically how many people there were and whether they were conscious or not. Satisfied that all four occupants were asleep, Severus made his way into the house.

"Point me Harry Potter," he incanted in a whisper. Oddly enough, the wand pointed to the boot cupboard under the stairs. Strange, but he couldn't possibly be...

Severus made his way to the cupboard, idly noting the lock on it. A quick "Alohomora" opened the door with an audible click. Snape muttered "Lumos" and illuminated the small space. Despite all his most pessimistic expectations, he was still surprised at what he found. A small dirty little boy, in what could only be described as rags, was unmistakably the spawn of James Potter. Severus was completely shocked, why was the boy living in conditions like this? Shouldn't the boy be spoiled rotten?

Severus was broken out of his thoughts by the surprised gasp. "Snape?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry awoke to the unmistakable sound of the cupboard door being opened. He stiffened. Had he overslept? Was Vernon coming to 'teach him a lesson'? Harry's eyes flew open, fully prepared to look for an escape route. He had to squint as the bright light flooded his eyes. After his eyes adjusted, he immediately recognized the figure standing before him.

"Snape?" he gasped.

That seemed to knock the man for a loop. Snape looked sharply at Harry. "You know me, Potter?"

Harry didn't understand why Snape sounded so confused.

"You only had me for six years in your classroom, how could I not know you?" Harry asked incredulously. "Sir," he added awkwardly.

"What are you blathering about? I've never met you before! And you're too young to attend Hogwarts! Now tell me how you know me," Snape demanded.

Harry's eyes unfocused as he tried to comprehend everything. Nothing made sense! Why was Snape here in his personal Hell? And why didn't Snape know him? He wished someone could tell him what was going on...

"Dumbledore," Harry muttered absentmindedly. Dumbledore would know.

"What?" Snape snapped. Had Dumbledore had contact with the brat? If so, why didn't HE check on the wards.

Grabbing the boy by the arm, he said, "Come, Potter, we're going to go see the headmaster."

Snape ignored the boy's inquiring look and comment when he asked, "But I thought you were the headmaster?" Hoping that this would all be explained soon, Snape Apparated them both to the gates of Hogwarts.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry couldn't help but squirm a bit as the two wizards stared down at him. After being dragged to the headmaster's office he found himself before a very much alive Dumbledore. Harry supposed that if this were the afterlife, it would make sense for Dumbledore to be there, and upon thinking on it, it made sense for Snape to be there as well. After all, the man had just died. But what made no sense was the fact that the pair seemed to know nothing about what brought Harry to the afterlife. He ended up recounting everything about his latest encounter with Voldemort. Harry almost jumped when Dumbledore spoke up.

"What year is it, Harry?" the elderly man asked.

Harry looked at Dumbledore strangely. What was with all these weird questions? "1998, sir."

Snape and Dumbledore shared a significant glance.

"Harry? Please look at me," Dumbledore instructed, and Harry obeyed without thinking.

Harry could feel the gentle push of Legilimency. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, he opened a way for Dumbledore, letting him see whatever he wanted. After a moment, he felt the presence recede. Dumbledore looked pensive and stared intently at Harry over his folded hands.

"Are you familiar with time travel, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry blinked. "Yes, sir, there was that incident with the Time-Turner..."

"A Time-Turner can only turn back time a few hours," Dumbledore interrupted. "Harry, the year is 1989. I believe you have traveled to the past."

Harry gaped at the man. That was impossible! He should be dead, not 9 years in the past! "But why am I not dead? I was hit by the killing curse."

"I don't pretend to know everything about magic, my boy. Sometimes it works in mysterious ways," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked up at his old mentor. "So now what?"

"As ironic as it may seem, I do not believe we can look back, we most look forward." Dumbledore said mysteriously. "Preserving the timeline is no longer an option. If this had happened before, Harry would remember it. This may very well have created a divergent timeline."

"Why don't we just obliviate the brat and be done with it?" Snape asked impatiently.

Dumbledore shot the man an admonishing look before turning back to Harry. "That is not an option. To obliviate so many years, especially in a small child would be an open invitation for brain damage. No, fate has given us a unique opportunity. I feel we must use it."

"Harry, do you know what a Pensieve is?" Seeing the boy nod, Dumbledore continued. "We'll have to have you put your memories into the Pensieve sometime, so that we can make the most of your experiences. They say 'forewarned is forearmed', after all."

Well that made sense, if you were going to mess with time, might as well make the most of it.

"But that can be done later. For now we need to figure out what to do about your living situation. I now understand why the wards are failing. You have not only already turned seventeen once, but you no longer consider it home. You cannot remain there. The wards will fail sooner or later. That brings up the question of who should take you in..." Dumbledore trailed off as he looked at his Potions professor.

Harry, not liking where this was going, spoke up. "How about Sirius Black?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

_**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT! PETER PETTIGREW TRAITOR AND DEATH EATER!**_

_Shocking new evidence has come forward that proves Sirius Black innocent of all charges. The true perpetrator was found to be Peter Pettigrew, former __posthumous__ holder of a third order of Merlin. Albus Dumbledore discovered Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus and living in hiding as a household pet to a wizarding family..._

Sirius folded the paper and stuck it under his arm. He couldn't help but feel a huge swell of satisfaction. He didn't care how Dumbledore had figured out not only that Peter was the secret keeper, but also that he was in hiding, living as a rat. All he really knew was that one day he was in Azkaban, fighting off insanity, and the next he was free and pardoned of all charges.

Being reunited with the only other remaining true marauder had lifted his spirits while in the hospital. The effects of eight years in that hellhole had taken its toll. Thankfully, a week later, the healers pronounced him fit to go about a daily routine. He just had to take it easy and take lots of nutritional potions.

That had been a relief, but now there was the question of what to do with himself. Frankly, his previous life had been shattered even before going to Azkaban. Sirius didn't have long to ponder his situation, because right out of the hospital Dumbledore requested a meeting. Who was he to deny the man who had saved him from that hellhole anything?

Sirius could barely sit still in anticipation. He didn't really know what to expect, but he had a feeling that it was huge. Sirius was so wound up that he nearly jumped when Remus burst into the room.

Slightly out of breath, Remus wheezed out, "Sorry I'm late."

Dumbledore looked up and smiled. "Quite alright, my boy. Now that you are here, we can begin." Not waiting for a reaction, he took out his wand and levitated a large stone basin onto his desk.

"First, I want you to look at the memories contained in here, before you ask me any questions." Dumbledore gestured toward the pensieve.

"Sir? What is this about?" Remus asked, puzzled.

Dumbledore simply smiled with the ever present twinkle in his eye and said, "Look, and I think you will figure it out."

The two younger men shared a glance and then shrugged. They really had nothing to lose. Looking into the watery surface, the pair fell in.

_Remus and Sirius gaped at what seemed to be an eleven-year-old James Potter face off against Voldemort in the form of a possessed professor. They watched horrified as Quirral tried to kill the boy that they quickly realized was Harry Potter. The memory ended with Harry's touch disintegrating the possessed man, and then every thing went black._

_They were abruptly pulled into the scene of a slightly older Harry Potter being taunted by the memory of a sixteen-year-old Voldemort. They felt utterly helpless as the boy battled a gigantic basilisk. They panicked when Harry's arm was pierced by the giant snake's fang and realized that the boy was dying._

_Unbelievable relief flooded through them when they saw the boy being healed by Fawks._

_The memory ended, and they were whisked away again._

_This time they saw hundreds of dementors surrounding two figures. Sirius started as he realized that one of those figures was himself. Harry pulled out his wand and incanted_

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_A huge silvery shape flew out from the boy's wand and charged at the dementors_

_The two men could only stare dumbfounded and gasp in a hushed whisper. "Prongs?"_

_The memory went on to show the boy using a Time-Turner with a girl to free a hippogriff and the memory Sirius Black._

_Then the scene shifted again._

_They watched Harry's name come out of the fire and all the tasks that followed. They couldn't help but grieve with the boy when his companion was murdered before his eyes. They seethed with rage as the image of their former friend cut into the boy to gain some of his blood for the potion to revive Voldemort._

_The following duel left them on edge as they watched Harry narrowly escape death once again. Their eyes teared up as they saw James and Lily appear from Voldemort's wand. They couldn't help but feel their hearts wrench as the boy made his way back to safety and cried into the embrace of a motherly figure._

_The scene changed again._

_This time they watched as a fifteen-year-old Harry raced to the ministry, five other teenagers in tow. Remus watched in horror as the memory Sirius fell into the veil of death, and Sirius couldn't help but feel an odd sense of detachment as he watched his other self die._

_They watched as the memory Remus tried to hold back Harry from following his godfather, and then they watched in horror as Harry attempted to use an unforgivable._

_They barely had time to process all of that before seeing Voldemort possess Harry. They cheered when Harry threw the madman out of his head._

_The events that followed were Harry being whisked off to Dumbledore's office and being told of the prophecy._

_Suddenly everything made sense, why Harry had to face off against the madman so many times._

_The scene shifted again. This time it flitted through the year showing snippets of Tom Riddle's life and an explanation of the Horcruxes. _

_Just when the pair didn't think anything could shock them anymore, they watched as Severus Snape hit Dumbledore with a killing curse._

_The scene changed. They watched a series of events. First, they saw Harry and his two friends hunting down the remaining Horcruxes and destroying them. Then they watched as Snape was bitten by Voldemort's pet snake. The dying man somehow put his memories into the Pensieve, and they learned why he murdered Dumbledore._

_They couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness as Harry walked to his death and offered no resistance when Voldemort fired the killing curse at the boy._

Suddenly they found themselves back in Dumbledore's office, with the man looking expectantly at them.

"Wha-" Sirius' mind was awhirl.

"What was that?" Remus finished.

"That was a possible future," Dumbledore answered, and then dropped the bombshell on them. "Harry has traveled back in time."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry waited impatiently in the side room to Dumbledore's office. Wishing he had some extendable ears, he pushed his ear against the door. Cursing at thick doors, Harry could only make out some vague sounds. What struck him the most was the sound of surprise that was in Sirius' voice.

Sirius.

Harry was bubbling with excitement at the thought of seeing Sirius again. He was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly found himself sprawled on the floor of Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore looked at the sheepish boy with amusement. He should have expected that the boy would be curious, but it was still an entertaining surprise when he opened the door only to find the child falling forward.

"Why don't you come in, Harry?" Dumbledore invited.

Harry stood up and tried to nonchalantly make his way to the chair between the gapping men.

"Harry?" Sirius rasped out.

Harry couldn't contain himself anymore. He flung himself into the stunned man. Grabbing hold of him, Harry couldn't stop the tears that flowed through his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sirius! So sorry!"

Harry hadn't really allowed himself to feel grief for Sirius. He always had the threat of Voldemort looming over his head. He had decided after Cedric's death that he would have to put his grief behind him until Voldemort was stopped.

But seeing Sirius, alive and well, Harry couldn't stop the flow of emotions. He felt Sirius return the embrace, and then Harry broke down and sobbed. He cried in grief as well as relief.

It seemed like eternity as Harry clung to Sirius like a lifeline. All the pent up emotion drained out of him, making him feel empty, but in a good way. Relieved of a burden would be a better way of putting it.

Sirius waited until Harry had calmed down a little to guide the boy over to one of the chairs. He sat down and pulled the still crying boy into his lap. Harry buried his face into his godfather's chest and drank up the comfort.

When he had calmed down, he blushed furiously as he realized he was in his godfather's lap.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and tried to pull away.

Sirius held on tight to Harry. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Harry looked tortured. "But I got you killed! It was my fault!"

"I seem to remember that it was Bellatrix who cast the spell," Sirius said confused.

"But if I hadn't fallen for that stupid trap, you would never have been there! It was all my fault!" Harry argued.

"Listen, Harry. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault," Sirius said sternly. "I don't ever want you to blame yourself for that again, you hear me?"

"But-" Harry opened his mouth to protest.

Sirius interrupted. "No, Harry. There are no 'buts' about it. It wasn't your fault. I certainly don't blame you, so why should you do so?"

Harry clamped down on his mouth, and then leaned into Sirius' shoulder for comfort.

Dumbledore hated to break up the moment, but he felt that they really needed to get back to the issue at hand. Clearing his throat, he spoke up.

"Sirius, Remus, as I've told you, Harry has come from the future. That presents us with two problems. One is the issue of Harry's guardian. Sirius, I believe you would have no trouble taking guardianship of Harry, if you're willing, that is."

"You even have to ask?" Sirius said incredulously. "Of course I'll take him in; he's my godson after all."

Dumbledore smiled, pleased. "Good, the paperwork has already gone though. But then that brings us to the other matter at hand." He paused to gather his thoughts. "Harry's little jaunt through time can never be revealed to the public, or more specifically, to the Ministry. Despite the fact that the trip was unintentional, Harry could still be charged with tampering with the timeline and sent to Azkaban."

The group paled at that. Harry hadn't realized that fact. He remembered that Hermione had told him that unauthorized time travel was illegal, but he hadn't really thought about the ramifications.

"Of course we'll keep Harry's secret." Remus spoke up.

The dumbfounded Sirius nodded vigorously.

Dumbledore relaxed a little at that, before turning to Harry.

"Good, to do so, though, you will have to act your parts. Harry, I can understand that you may stand out as a little mature for your age, but you will have to try to embrace your child self. I believe that you have not just traveled back in time, but that your younger self and future self have also merged, not just replaced one another. You might find yourself feeling more childish as time goes on, and you should not fight it."

Harry frowned, but nodded.

Dumbledore then turned to Sirius and Remus.

"You will both need to treat Harry like a child, especially when he acts like one. Mentally, Harry will fluctuate between his elder self and his younger self until his magic stabilizes. Remus, I'd like you to help out with raising Harry. You cannot gain guardianship of Harry, but you can be a part of his life. Sirius will need the help while he is recovering."

Remus wanted to protest that it felt too much like charity, but acknowledged the issue. Turning to the headmaster, he nodded in agreement. "But what about my... Condition?" he asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about that. Severus will be brewing you Wolfsbane potion to take. You should be perfectly safe around Harry," Dumbledore assured the man.

"Please tell him that I appreciate it," Remus said in relief.

Dumbledore nodded, and then looked at the group pleased. "Good! Now, I think you will have a busy day ahead of you. We've managed to procure the Potter manor. I'd like you all to move in today."

Sirius and Remus smiled with nostalgia as they remembered the summers they spent there with James and his parents.

Harry looked up curiously. "Potter Manor?"

"It was the home of your grandparents. When they died, James moved out, not being able to stand the memories. But it is still one of your properties, and it has been well kept," Dumbledore explained.

Harry nodded, but was annoyed that once again he seemed to know less about himself, then, everyone else.

Dumbledore held out a ridiculously bright sock. "Take this Portkey; it will take you to Potter Manor. I've hooked it up to the Floo Network, so you will be able to get to Diagon Alley to shop for things. The floo is password protected, and the password is currently 'lemon drop'. You can change it whenever you want, but please inform me."

The group nodded, and then grabbed onto the portkey. Dumbledore said the pass code, and they were all whisked away.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry was amazed at the size of Potter Manor; it really was huge. The best thing about it was that they had their own Quidditch pitch!

Harry didn't have much time to explore, because Sirius and Remus quickly learned that Harry owned nothing but the clothes on his back. And so, Harry was dragged off to Diagon Alley to buy what seemed like a lifetime's worth of clothes. They didn't stop there. Remus also took them to the bookstore and insisted that Harry buy some educational books. He was stopped from taking anything on a subject that used a wand, however. Remus explained that he would not be using magic until he was physically eleven again. Harry pouted a bit at Remus' choices. History, Herbology, and, ick, Potions.

It was Sirius that dragged them off to the Quidditch store. Harry happily followed his godfather. He was happy that they had purchased a set of Quidditch balls, but was disappointed when Remus vetoed Harry getting the top of the line broom, and instead insisted that they buy a training broom.

Harry was a little embarrassed when they took him to the toy store, but soon found himself interested in a game called 'quick snitches'.

They finally settled down and went to Florean's for some ice cream before heading home.

After the long day, Harry couldn't help himself from yawning throughout dinner. They all retired to the living room to do some quiet reading. Yes, even Sirius. Harry soon found that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

At around 9:00, Sirius looked up and chuckled. Harry looked so cute when he was asleep. Remus took care to bookmark the page Harry was at while Sirius scooped the boy up into his arms.

Harry woke up just as Sirius was putting him in bed. Harry blushed furiously as Sirius pulled the covers up to his chin and kissed him on the forehead. Despite feeling mortified, Harry couldn't help the warm feeling that grew in his chest. When Remus came in to repeat Sirius' last action, Harry felt even more embarrassed, but he also felt comforted somehow.

With the warm feeling in his chest, Harry drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: I know I am making this seem too easy, but it's because the 'redo' plot is just the background. This is really going to be more a family type fic then anything else.


	2. Too Big For His Britches?

**One More Time, With Feeling**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

**Chapter 2**

oOoOoOoOoOo

**Too Big For His Britches?**

oOoOoOoOoOo

The following week turned out to be very busy. After having a briefing on the nature of the Horcruxes, the group set to work dispensing them. They were easily able to find the locket; Kreacher became more agreeable after he discovered that they would be helping finish Young Master Regulus' last order. This creeped Sirius out more than anybody. The aged elf was actually being nice to him! The cup was not quite as easy, but it was still not as difficult as it had been for Harry the first time around. Since Bellatrix was formerly a Black and the Lestranges had no children, Sirius was able to claim the Lestrange vaults as the head of the Black family. It was an old pureblood law.

The diadem was fairly easy to obtain, as it was still in the same spot that Harry had previously found it. Dumbledore thought it was such a shame to dispose of the priceless relic. Using the basilisk venom that they had procured from the ancient snake in the chamber of secrets, they were able to dissolve the three Horcruxes. That left the diary, the ring, the snake and... Harry.

It took quite some time, but they were able to find a spell that would be able to safely ascertain whether or not something was a Horcrux. Harry tested negative. Voldemort's second killing curse must have destroyed it. The group was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief at that.

After some additional research, Dumbledore was able to locate the Gaunt house. Harry couldn't help but object to their plans of excluding him. "That thing pretty much killed you the last time. You'll need all the help you can get," Harry pointed out, stubbornly.

"Harry, my boy, from what I have been able to gather from your memories, I was caught up in a moment of weakness. The thought of seeing Ariana was too much to pass up. But this time I know what to prepare for, and I will not fall for the same trap twice," Dumbledore said resolutely.

"But-" Harry began.

This time it was Remus that spoke up. "No, Harry, you cannot come. It's too dangerous, besides, you are not even allowed to use magic."

"It's not fair!" Harry yelled and stomped off.

Snape grumbled about 'childish hysterics' as Remus got up to follow Harry.

oOoOoOoOo

Remus finally caught up to Harry as the boy sat on the benches beside the Quidditch pitch. Harry idly toyed with an inactivated training Snitch. Remus sighed as he sat next to the sulking child.

"Harry, we're not excluding you to hurt you. This is going to be very dangerous, and since you cannot even use magic, you wouldn't be able to defend yourself," Remus explained.

Harry opened his mouth to protest when a thought occurred to him. Harry sighed as he said, "Okay, Remus, I understand."

Remus was a little suspicious about Harry's sudden about face, but didn't want to question his good fortune. "Good, I'm glad you understand. It's good that you will stay here. You'll keep Sirius company, won't you?"

Harry nodded. Sirius was still recovering, and so he would not be going with them to destroy the ring as well.

Remus smiled and patted the boy's shoulder. "Good, we'll be home in time for dinner."

Harry watched as Remus left. A slow, smug smile spread across his features.

Oh, he understood alright, he just didn't agree.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry waited until the group had left. He made sure that Sirius was still sleeping—he did that a lot lately—and 'borrowed' the sleeping man's wand before heading for the Quidditch pitch.

Harry focused on the coordinates. He breathed in deeply and focused as he exhaled, remembering his lessons from a lifetime ago.

Destination

Determination

Deliberation

Just as Harry was about to Apparate, he had a panicked thought. Could he Apparate through the wards?

Unfortunately for Harry, he had already started the process. That split second of indecision was his undoing.

POP!

Harry had shut his eyes tight in anticipation. He felt an odd sense of floating. When he opened his eyes, he was dismayed to find himself not exactly whole. Both feet were left behind. It would have been almost comical, like when Susan left a leg behind during Apparition practice 'last year', if it wasn't for the fact that he'd just realized he was in over his head with no idea how to fix a splinching. A great sense of helplessness overcame him, as he realized all he could do was wait.

oOoOoOoooOo

Remus breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way into Potter Manor. Making his way to the kitchen, he found Kreacher hard at work preparing their meals. "That smells delicious, Kreacher. Is dinner almost ready?" Remus asked.

"Yes, Master Remus, dinner should be ready in a half an hour," the elf replied politely. Kreacher's behavior had become like night and day compared to how he was previously.

"Do you know where Harry and Sirius are?" Remus asked curiously. It was suspiciously quiet in the house.

"Master Sirius is sleeping, and Young Master Harry is on the Quidditch pitch," the elf answered and then resumed stirring the soup.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Remus went off to find Harry. If the boy had been flying all this time, he would probably need some time to clean up before dinner.

Remus almost had a heart attack when he found Harry. The sight would have been funny, if Remus weren't so horrified. Taking out his wand, he quickly fixed Harry. He was thankful now that he had learned how to fix splinching.

Harry, now whole again, literally jumped for joy, happy to be reunited with his other half. That is, before he turned around and saw the look on Remus' face.

"What is going on?" Remus asked angrily.

Harry suddenly realized that he still had Sirius' wand in his hand, so he quickly tried to hide it behind his back.

Remus had not missed Harry's blatant attempt to hide something. He held out his hand. "Give it here."

"Give what?" Harry asked, feigning innocence.

Remus leveled Harry with a stern gaze that left the boy squirming.

"I think you know very well what I am talking about, Harry," Remus said, his voice hardened.

Harry gulped and then handed over the wand.

Remus clenched the wand so tightly that Harry was afraid that it would break.

"Are you supposed to be performing magic, Harry?" Remus' voice held a dangerous edge to it.

Harry couldn't help but avert his eyes, shamefaced. "No, but-"

Remus didn't give Harry a chance to elaborate. "Are you even supposed to be touching a wand?"

"No, but I-" Harry began.

Remus cut the boy off. "Then why in Merlin's name would you not only have a wand, but be performing magic?"

"I thought I could help," Harry said quietly.

Remus looked at Harry incredulously. "I thought we went over this. You agreed that you would stay out of the hunt."

"I didn't say THAT. I said that I understood," Harry defended.

Remus gaped at the boy, unable to believe his audacity! Rage filled him as he realized just how much danger the boy had put himself into. Barely containing his anger, he pointed toward the house. "Go. To. Your. Room. NOW!"

Harry opened his mouth to protest before thinking better of it. Upon seeing the angry look on Remus' face, he scampered off to his room.

Remus made his way to the kitchen, intending on having Kreacher bring Harry's meal up to him. Both parties needed some time to think.

oOoOoOoOo

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair; Sirius was still a little groggy. He absentmindedly questioned Harry's absence, which Remus evaded, saying only that Harry would be taking his meal in his room. After dinner, Remus found himself calmer. He was able to think about things more clearly.

Harry needed to be punished, that much was certain. But that raised all sorts of questions; the foremost was whether or not he really had the right to punish the boy. Technically, Remus wasn't even the boy's guardian, Sirius was. But Sirius was in no shape to step up and discipline Harry. And Remus WAS there to help out...

Remus sighed, he couldn't help but wonder what James would do.

A rueful smile played on his lips as he realized what James' father would have done. It was clear that Harry needed boundaries. From what he was able to gather, Harry had never had a consistent adult figure in his life. He broke rules without thinking twice about it, and no one had really called him on it. Remus was ashamed to admit that even his other self had not really been there.

Harry could not be allowed to continue as he was; he was no longer an adult. Harry could really get over his head quickly if they didn't nip this in the bud. Harry would have to accept his new status as a child. And since he behaved in such a childish manner, a childish punishment was appropriate. With that in mind, Remus headed up to his room to retrieve his mother's hairbrush before making his way to Harry's room.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry paced around the room before sitting down on his bed and then getting up to pace around some more. He was bored. After eating dinner, he had tried to read something, anything to take his mind off of Remus' angry face. It hadn't worked. He didn't really know why Remus had sent him to his room; it wasn't like he was really a kid or something...

Harry jolted as Remus entered the room.

Harry was sitting on his bed, and Remus walked over and placed his hands on the boy's shoulder.

"Explain." Remus said simply.

Harry rolled his eyes. Why were they going over this again? "I was trying to Apparate to the Gaunt house, and I splinched myself. End of story."

"Harry, that's not good enough. What you did was very serious. What if no one came? What if you splinched yourself, but some you ended up at the Gaunt house, or worse, somewhere unknown?" Remus looked intently at Harry. "Harry, there is a reason that they grant Apparition licenses when you are of age. Apparition can be one of the most dangerous forms of magic there is. Even though some people do it daily, it requires a mature magical core for it to work consistently. Aside from being in a nine year old's body, your magic is fluctuating, trying to adapt to the elder core being integrated. There are few other things that you could have done that would have been more dangerous."

Harry didn't like it, but Remus did make a lot of sense. "Okay, I get it Remus. It won't happen again," he grumbled out.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it had better not. Now, as for your punishment..."

Harry tensed in anticipation. What would Remus do?

Remus walked over to the desk and pulled out the chair. He seated himself and looked at Harry expectantly. "You will receive a spanking. Please come here, bare your bottom, and lie over my lap."

Harry blinked, whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this! "You can't! I'm too old!" he protested.

"Nine is not too old for this type of punishment, and indeed, even if you were still seventeen, I would do the very same thing. Now come here," Remus commanded sternly.

Harry couldn't help feeling a childish sense of dread. He was torn between stomping his feet and bolting from the room. He settled for shaking his head and saying, "I'm not a sodding nine year old!"

Remus leveled Harry with a stern gaze that made the boy squirm.

"Yes, you are. Harry, whether you like it or not, you are no longer seventeen, and you won't be for another eight years. You have to accept that," Remus said forcefully. "No one can find out that you aren't everything you appear to be. No one can find out that you are a time traveler. You remember Dumbledore's words?"

Harry nodded apprehensively. He did remember, and he knew that he didn't want to go to Azkaban. "I'm sorry Remus, you're right," he admitted.

"Good, now come here. If I have to come get you, you will receive another spanking tomorrow," Remus said ominously.

Harry suddenly felt filled with childish panic. "No!" he said and then made a mad dash for the door.

Remus seemed to have anticipated the action, because he reached Harry before the boy was even able to grab hold of the doorknob.

"You've just made things harder for yourself," Remus said as he pulled the struggling boy over to the desk chair and seated himself. In short order, Harry was pulled over the man's lap and was completely mortified when he felt his bottom being bared.

"Please Remus! I'm sorry! Don't do this!" Harry pleaded. He hated himself for sounding so weak and small.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but you have to learn." With that Remus brought his hand down with a loud SMACK!

Harry yelped at the sting. Remus' hand must have been made of iron! "Owwww!"

After the initial spank, Remus unleashed a flurry of stinging swats all over Harry's little bottom, quickly reddening the boy's tail.

Harry tried to bite back his cries after his yelp at the beginning of the spanking, but the swats kept on coming, and he didn't know how much longer he could control himself. Harry berated himself for his childish reactions. Honestly, his Quidditch injuries hurt more than this! That's what his mind tried to tell itself, but his mind wasn't the one on fire right now! Harry couldn't believe how much it felt like he was sitting on hot coals.

His eyes stinging with unshed tears, Harry couldn't help but cry out as a stinging swat landed on an especially sore spot. "Owwww! I'm soooorrrrryyyyyy! I Ouch! Won't do it again!"

"I certainly hope so! If there ever is a next time, I won't be as lenient with you," Remus promised.

Lenient? Harry thought incredulously. His arse was on fire, and the man was calling it lenient?!?

SMACK! Remus landed a swat to the spot where his bottom met his thigh, and Harry squirmed. Harry was unable to hold back the tears any longer, and they flowed heavily from his eyes.

Remus noted that Harry had finally allowed himself to cry. He paused for a second to ponder the situation, and then reached into his back pocket to retrieve the hairbrush.

Harry was relieved when Remus stopped, believing it to be over. He had somehow survived, but his arse was on fire! Harry's hope was quickly dashed by the feel of something cold and hard being pressed against his burning bottom. Harry craned his head back to look and was dismayed to see that Remus was holding a very large hairbrush against his bottom.

"Noooo! Please!" Harry cried out. He couldn't take anymore spanking, he just couldn't!

Remus took care to rub the hairbrush against Harry's bottom, letting the boy squirm a little before he spoke. "Harry, this was very serious. I am going to use the hairbrush because you put your life in danger. I'm actually going easy on you since this is your first spanking. If you EVER pull a stunt like this again, I won't hesitate to paddle your bottom with this brush, and I won't bother starting with my hand."

With that said, Remus brought the hairbrush swishing down with a loud CRACK!

Harry jumped and yowled; it felt as if a thousand hornets were assaulting his bottom!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Harry writhed and wiggled, trying fruitlessly to move his stinging backside out of the line of fire. But to no avail, each swat landed exactly where Remus intended. Harry soon started sobbing as the maddening sting spread throughout his nether-cheeks.

"Harry, why are you receiving this spanking?" Remus questioned, not letting up in the least.

The man couldn't really expect Harry to answer could he? Not when he was still laying on the swats so heavily, right? Harry was quickly convinced that Remus did indeed expect an answer when the man started paddling his sensitive sit spots.

"Because I OWWW! disobeyed you! Owwie! and put myself in OWWW! danger! OWWWWWWWWWW!" Harry howled as the swats seemed to fall relentlessly.

"That's right! Do you realize just how dangerous the stunt you pulled was? Apparation is dangerous! Splinching is not something to be taken lightly, especially with how badly you managed to splinch yourself!"

"I'm OWWWW! Sorry!" Harry cried out. He would never sit again, surely!

Remus lowered one leg and lifted the other, granting him better access to Harry's sit spots, where he aimed his next swats.

"CRACK! You CRACK! had CRACK! better CRACK! be! CRACK!" Remus lectured. "If you ever put yourself in danger again, you can expect another paddling with the hairbrush! I don't ever want a repeat of this, do you understand?"

"Yeeeesssss! I understand!" Harry sobbed out. His bottom burned with a white-hot intense fire. Harry went limp over Remus' lap. He stopped struggling, stopped kicking, he just lay there, sobbing his eyes out.

Remus felt Harry go limp and then added five more stinging swats for good measure before dropping the hairbrush.

Harry was crying as if it were the end of the world. His bottom was a brilliant scarlet, and Remus knew that it must be stinging fiercely. Remus began to rub soothing circles on the boy's back.

"Shhh... It's over now," he said gently.

Harry's sobbing eventually slowed, and then Remus righted the boy and pulled him back into his lap, into a loving embrace. Harry clung to the man and buried his face in Remus' chest. Remus' jumper soaked up the boy's tears.

Harry had never felt so small and childish before. He relished the feeling of Remus' warm embrace. A part of him wondered why he was not upset with the man for punishing him so harshly, but he pushed those thoughts back in favor of clinging to Remus tighter. Harry slowly relaxed. His eyes became heavy, and it didn't take long for the exhaustion to overtake him. He fell asleep, still cradled in Remus' arms.

Remus felt Harry's breathing even out. A gentle smile played on his lips as he looked down at his sleeping charge. Harry looked so sweet and innocent when he was asleep. Taking care not to wake the boy, he laid Harry on his stomach and transfigured the boy's clothes into pajamas. Tucking the boy in, he removed Harry's glasses and set them on the nightstand before bending over and landing a kiss on the boy's forehead.

Remus turned to leave. It was as he reached the threshold of the door that he paused and turned to watch Harry sleep.

Remus wondered why he had entered Harry's life so late the last time around, but then he already knew why he hadn't met Harry this time around. At first, he couldn't stand the thought of seeing the boy again, not so soon after his parents' death. Remus' grief stemmed not only from the loss of James and Lily, but the loss of Peter and Sirius as well. Remus had believed that he had lost Sirius to betrayal, and that Sirius had taken Peter with him. Remus' world had come crashing down in the span of a few short days.

After the years, it seemed almost too easy for him to put Harry from his mind. Every now and then, however, his thoughts would turn to Lily and James and he would wonder how Harry was doing.

Remus cursed his earlier inaction. He knew how badly Harry had been treated, and he correctly guessed that the bits of love in the boy's life were few and fleeting. He couldn't help but feel as though he had missed something vital, and that Harry had paid the price.

Remus resolved then that he would not fail Harry this time. Harry would receive the loving childhood that the boy deserved. He prayed forgiveness from his departed friends for not doing right by their son the first time.

He spared one last glance at the sleeping boy before dimming the lights and leaving Harry to his dreams.

oOoOoOoOo

_A/N: Some of you might wonder at Harry's reactions, and if you review or PM me, I would be happy to answer any questions. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter._


	3. Seventeen going on Nine

One More Time, With Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

Chapter 3

_Author's note: That's right, you read it right, this is chapter 3. I only realized later that this chapter needed to be written, and that it should fit into the chapters that I originally had as 2 and 3. After this is up for about a month, I'll put it in chronological order. For those that wanted less spanking, here is a chapter for you, for those that didn't… well, there will be other chapters… BTW if you have read chapter 8 of my story 'I Solemnly Swear I'm Up To No Good' the pensieve scenes will look very familiar. Let's just say I believe in recycling, and feel free to skip it if you don't want to read it again. Hope you enjoy the chapter. _

oOoOoOoOoOo

Seventeen Going on Nine

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry was having a pleasant dream when he awoke to the sensation of something wet and warm running up and down his face. Opening his eyes blearily, discovered that the warm, wet thing running up his face was long and pink and framed by a lot of black. The pink thing made another pass over his face before he realized what it was.

"Ewww, Sirius, gerroff!" He exclaimed, pushing the large black dog away from him.

Padfoot changed into a grinning Sirius. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Sirius said with exuberance.

Harry glared. "What kind of wake up call is that? I was having such a nice dream too..." Harry didn't realize that he was pouting at that point.

"Sorry, Harry, I couldn't resist." Sirius said unrepentantly. "You're just as hard to wake up as your father was, and this is a tried and true method."

"Padfoot! I thought I told you NOT to wake Harry." Remus appeared at doorway with a glare.

"But Moony! We have so much to planned! Besides it's already ten o'clock!" Sirius whined.

Remus shook his head exasperated. Normally, it was a challenge to get Sirius up before noon, but that would change if it was a special day. With a sigh, Remus grabbed the back of Sirius' shirt and dragged the protesting man out of the room. "Why don't you get showered and changed?" He called out over his shoulder. "Breakfast will be ready when you come down. Kreacher is making chocolate chip waffles."

Harry brightened at that, chocolate chip waffles were his favorite. As soon as Sirius and Remus left, Harry got ready to face the day.

oOoOoOoOo

Sirius was practically bouncing in his seat waiting impatiently for Harry to finish. Harry, who had become considerably more cheerful upon eating one of his favorite foods, decided to savor every bite. Even knowing how anxious Sirius was getting, Harry decided that it was an appropriate payback for his wake up call. It was when Harry set down his fork after taking his last bite that Sirius sprang up.

"Presents!" He crowed.

Harry could only shake his head, Sirius was more excited then he was!

"Just one though, you should have something to open after cake tonight." Remus said, ever the voice of reason.

Sirius shoved a package under Harry's face and looked expectantly at the boy.

Harry chuckled, but even still, followed Sirius' silent command.

Harry unwrapped the package and soon found himself staring at a very familiar magical item.

"A pensieve?" He asked.

His guardians nodded.

"It has memories of your parents in it." Remus explained.

Harry's eyes widened and he looked at the pensieve as if it were made of gold.

"Can I look now?" He asked, excited.

Sirius and Remus nodded, and together they all dove into the pensieve.

_**(Pensieve Memories)**_

_An excited James Potter burst into the room. _

"_It's a boy!" He exclaimed._

_Sirius perked up. "I'm a godfather now?"_

"_Yep, you my friend are the godfather of one Harry James Potter." James said slinging his arm around his best friend._

_Sirius grinned then yanked that arm and then pulled James into a ridiculous happy dance, all the while chanting 'I'm a godfather! I'm a godfather!'_

_After an initial disorientation, James joined in chanting instead 'I'm a father! I'm a father!'_

_A mirthful Remus Lupin looked on at his friends antics, soon, he couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing. Remus wiped a tear from his eye. "It's too bad Peter couldn't be here, he would have gotten a kick out of this!" He said between chuckles._

_Sirius looked toward Remus as if noticing him for the first time and then grabbed his arm, forcing him into the circle. Remus rolled his eyes and then grinned as he joined in with the impromptu happy dance._

_**(Next Memory)**_

"_Come on open wide." A nine-month-old Harry Potter looked at the offered spoonful of mush and then stubbornly closed his mouth._

"_Aww, come on Pronglet, don't be like that!" Sirius whined. Harry's only response was to blow a raspberry at his godfather._

"_Ah" Harry exclaimed as James entered the room. Sirius used that moment of distraction to fill Harry's mouth with the mush. Harry swallowed and then made a face._

"_There that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Sirius asked. Harry looked up and started giggling and clapping his hands._

"_See, you really liked it didn't you." Sirius said._

_At that James could no longer hold back his laughter. Puzzled at his friend's outburst, Sirius turned to James._

"_What's so funny?" Sirius asked._

"_Y-your hair." James said through his laughter._

_Sirius conjured a small hand mirror and looked into it. Giving a shriek, he dropped the mirror as his hands flew to his head._

"_My hair!" He exclaimed. _

_Sirius Black had gone completely grey. Sirius turned an accusing glare towards James. _

"_What did you do?!" He asked angrily._

"_I didn't do anything, I think that the culprit is your beloved godson." James looked like he wanted to laugh some more, but was visibly restraining himself. James gave a proud smile. "That was his first accidental magic."_

"_Harry?" Sirius asked incredulously, turning to the baby, he found Harry gurgling happily and still clapping._

_Sirius looked in awe, his anger forgotten. "His first accidental magic!" _

_Sirius lifted Harry from his high chair and whirled him around. Harry shrieked happily._

_**(Next Memory)**_

"_Pafoo?" Harry looked questioningly at Sirius. _

"_No, Pronglet, look at your Daddy." Sirius pointed to the broom carrying James Potter._

"_Okay, Pronglet, watch me and do as I do. Okay?" James said._

_The fourteen-month-old Harry Potter nodded very seriously. Remus had to keep himself from chuckling from the sight._

_James mounted his broom and Harry mimicked him. When James kicked off and hovered, Harry followed suit. James glided around gently and Harry followed. Then Harry _

_took off, giggling with glee. James hurried to catch up. After a few circuits around the pitch, James landed and simply watched Harry. _

"_He's a natural isn't he?" James beamed._

_Sirius' grin was just as wide. "He sure is."_

_The pair was interrupted by the arrival of a furious Lily Potter._

"_JAMES EDWARD POTTER! How dare you give our baby something like that!" She said angrily._

_James held out his hands in a placating gesture. "Now, Lily…"_

_**(END PENSIEVE MEMORIES)**_

The memory started to fade out and the trio found themselves back in the real world.

Harry grinned broadly at the pair. He threw himself into a hug, wrapping his arms around his Godfather, and then releasing the man to do the same for Remus.

"Thank you! I love it!" Harry said happily.

"There are more memories, but you should really only put in two or three at a time, you never know how long you may be stuck in there otherwise, time flows differently." Remus cautioned.

Harry's eyes gleamed with happiness. "There are more?" He asked eagerly.

Remus chuckled and produced a box filled with vials full of silvery wisps.

Harry was busy the entire time up until lunch, lost in the memories.

oOoOoOoOo

Since they had a late breakfast, lunch was put off as well. Harry didn't care, he didn't really want to break for lunch, but Kreacher was not to be denied. Harry was sneaking glances at Sirius throughout the meal, oddly enough, the man seemed just as anxious as he did during lunch. No sooner did Harry and Remus finish did Sirius spring up into action.

"Okay! Let's go!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Go where?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Remus smiled mysteriously and only had to say. "You'll see."

Sirius produced an old sock from his pocket. "Hold onto this, and we'll be on our way." He said impatiently.

Harry looked questioningly at the old sock.

Sirius' response was to push it forward, closer to Harry's face and shake it.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Harry held his hands up in defeat before he grabbed hold of the sock.

Remus merely chucked as he took hold of it as well.

"Six flags," Sirius said.

Harry felt a pull at his naval, and then they were gone.

oOoOoOoOo

In a whirlwind of motion, Harry soon found himself sprawled in a deserted alley. After stopping a moment to glare jealously at Sirius and Remus' perfect landings, he finally voiced his confusion.

"Where are we?" He asked.

Instead of speaking, Remus led him out of the alley and pointed.

Using his eyes to follow the direction the man had indicated, Harry spied off in the distance a large entrance with a sign above it that read 'Six Flags Great America'.

"We're in America?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes, we thought that even going muggle, it would be better to go away from England to avoid recognition." Remus explained.

"Oh," Harry said and then looked up inquiringly at Remus. "What is this place?"

"It's a muggle amusement park." Sirius said, practically bursting with excitement.

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean one of those places that have rides and things?" He asked, a little excitement was creeping into his voice.

Remus smiled and nodded in assent.

Harry grinned broadly, "I've always wanted to go to one! Every since Dudley went when he turned ten and couldn't stop talking about it for a week." Harry took off toward the entrance, pulling on Remus' hand. "C'mon, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Remus allowed himself to be dragged along and Sirius let out a bark of laughter before racing after the pair.

Harry decided he wanted to try as many rides as possible. He tried ride after ride, even though he found the dizzying spinning rides to be fun, he soon found his favorite ride.

Roller coasters.

Harry was thrilled that the park had three roller coasters and after trying the first one, he ran to the second, nearly leaving the still recovering Remus and Sirius behind. It was in the third one however, that he found his favorite. 'Top Gun', it was the fastest rollercoaster in the country. Harry was thrilled to be feeling the wind whipping through his hair, and going up a steep incline only to dive down seconds later. Since he no longer had his firebolt and was on a training broom, he could no longer fly at the breakneck speeds that he preferred. Riding the Top Gun made him feel like he was once again on his beloved firebolt, diving to catch the Snitch. After the first ride through, he immediately ran to the back of the line, bouncing impatiently to board the ride again. It was after the fifth repetition that he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry," Sirius said shakily, "Why don't we take a break?"

"Why?" He looked at his Godfather confused, they were wasting time that could be spent getting closer to the next ride.

"Why don't we go for dinner?" Remus suggested.

"But I'm not hungry yet." Harry protested.

"I think I saw an ice cream place at the food court." Sirius suggested.

Harry's eyes lit up at the suggestion and inwardly Remus groaned.

Just what they needed, more sugar in the kid...

oOoOoOoOo

Hours later found two very weary adults and one hyper child back at Potter Manor.

Harry was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement. "So what's next?" Harry asked.

Remus, who had collapsed on one of the couches, along with Sirius, groaned and draped his hand over his eyes. "Now we're going to play the quiet game. Let's all lie here and see who can be the quietest."

Harry made a face. "I'm not five, Remus. I can take a hint, I'll go flying while you old men rest."

It was a testament to how exhausted he was, that Sirius didn't even have the energy to sputter indignantly at the 'old' comment as Harry walked off.

Minutes after Harry had left the room, Remus broke the silence. "Padfoot?"

Sirius grunted in acknowledgment.

"Next year, I'm making the birthday plans."

oOoOoOoOo

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Haaapy Biiirthdaaay..." Sirius sang loudly and off key.

Harry was torn between laughing at his Godfather's antic and covering his ears to protect his hearing. Sirius wrapped up the song and looked expectantly at Harry.

"Well? Blow them out and make a wish!" Sirius said impatiently.

Harry inhaled and then froze. What would he wish for? When he was a child the first time around, he had always wished for a family. Now it seemed like he had one in the form of his Godfather and his sort of Uncle. Should he wish for Voldemort's death? That seemed a little morbid...

"Um, Prongslet, you're supposed to blow out. That's how the candles go out." Sirius' voice broke Harry's reverie.

Deciding on wishing to see his friends again, he blew out and extinguished the candles.

Sirius let out a whoop, and Remus moved to cut the cake. Because of their late afternoon nap, they didn't end up serving the cake until almost right before Harry's bedtime. Harry was already dressed in his pajamas, he was planning on going to sleep right after cake and presents.

Remus looked at the very chocolatey cake with a bit of tepitation. Normally he loved all things chocolate, but the thought of Harry consuming yet more sugar made him cringe inside. But it wasn't like he could deny the boy a slice of his Birthday cake, so despite his reservations, he served a nice sized piece to the birthday boy.

Harry savored the treat, Kreacher had really outdone himself, and made the most chocolatiest cake possible. After Harry finished his slice, he moved to get another when Remus stopped him.

"Why don't we save the rest for later?" Remus' voice was mild, but it was clear that he wasn't asking a question.

"Besides, you still have more presents to open!" Sirius chirped in.

Harry nodded reluctantly and then turned his attention to the small pile of packages. He happily tore into the brightly wrapped boxes, revealing some books and toys that he had wanted that they hadn't picked up on their shopping trip to Diagon Alley. Finally he came to a package that was wrapped in magically animated wrapping paper, it had a number of snitches zooming around the surface of the paper. Taking care to preserve the wrapping paper of that gift, he cracked a huge grin upon opening the present.

"My invisibility cloak!" He cried out in excitement.

Remus and Sirius smiled fondly at the memories that the cloak invoked, before Remus realized the implications.

"Damn." He muttered under his breath. Just what was Albus thinking? Remus shuddered at the thought of all the mischief that the boy could get into now.

"That's great!" Sirius said excitedly. "That will go perfectly with your last present." Sirius took a small book out of his pocket, and then cast the spell to enlarge it. He proudly handed it to the confused boy.

Harry looked at the book confused, it looked like a journal or something...

"It's the Marauder's journal. It has the details of all the pranks we pulled from Second year up." Sirius said fondly.

"Sirius!" Remus hissed angrily. "You shouldn't encourage him to do magic! He's not allowed!"

"Aww, relax Moony! Harry's mature enough to know not to do that, right Harry?" Sirius said with a wink.

Harry had been flipping through the book and stopped at a passage that had been penned by his father. Looking up at Remus, he did his best puppy eyes. "Please Remus? I want to read Dad's thoughts at that time. Please?"

Remus' eyes softened at the mention of James. "Alright." He relented, and Harry beamed. "But remember. No doing magic."

Sirius was nodding along mock seriously. "Yeah, especially not the animagus training."

Harry's eyes widened as he studied the book with renewed interest.

Remus leveled Sirius with a deathly glare.

Sirius gulped and added, "Erm, yeah, right, remember no magic!"

Harry nodded, barely registering the words.

The clock chimed nine o'clock. Remus looked at Harry expectantly. "Bedtime, Harry. Why don't you go and brush your teeth and go to bed? You can play with your presents tomorrow."

Harry sighed. "Yes, Mother." He said sarcastically as he made his way up the stairs.

Sirius snickered as Remus glared at the boy's retreating form.

Harry yawned as he slid into bed, despite being pumped full of sugar, it had been a long day and he was tired. He blushed a little as Sirius tucked him in, although he didn't protest. His guardians had gotten into the habit of tucking him in, and the part of him that craved the attention that he had been denied in his first childhood was relishing the simple ritual. Despite intellectually thinking he was too old to be tucked in, emotionally, he felt he needed it.

After Sirius had tucked him in and kissed his forehead, Remus removed his glasses and placed them on the nightstand before following Sirius' lead.

As the door closed and the light fled the room, Harry let out a sigh of contentment before drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Review lots! It makes me more inclined to write! _


	4. Dear Diary

One More Time, With Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

Chapter 4

oOoOoOoOoOo

Dear Diary...

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry pressed his ear against the keyhole of the door, and he was able to make out most of the conversation.

"We have no idea where that blasted diary is other than knowing that it is in Lucius' possession. For all we know he could be carrying the bloody book with him at all times."

Ah, Snape, ever the pessimist.

"Still, Severus, it is crucial that we destroy all of the Horcruxes before Voldemort gains a new body."

Dumbledore's voice carried easily through the air despite not being as loud as Snape's voice.

"Albus, if we don't make too many alterations, don't you think we will have the opportunity to take the diary when Lucius willingly parts with it?"

That was Remus' ever-present voice of logic.

"Hmmm... That idea does have some merit. After all, it offers the least risk. The diary is the most likely to be missed, since it is being held by one of Tom's most faithful follower."

Harry couldn't stand it, he burst into the room. "You can't do that!"

All the adults stared at the newest addition to the meeting.

"Harry!" Remus said sharply. "What are you doing out of bed? It's past your bedtime."

Harry flushed a little at Remus' words. Honestly, Snape was in the room, and the man didn't need to know that he had a bedtime. Harry focused on the task at hand.

"You can't just wait and hope things don't change at all. What if you fail? Ginny could end up being possessed again!" Harry protested.

"Harry, go back to sleep. These are not things that you should be concerned with," Remus said firmly.

"You just don't care!" Harry yelled as he stomped off.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry pretended to be asleep when Remus came to check on him after the meeting. Then he sulked for most of the next day. Remus got sick of Harry's pouting and firmly suggested that the boy go flying or do something.

Harry let out a dramatic sigh and then stomped off to his room to retrieve his broom. When he reached his room, he sat down on his bed and idly played with the twigs of the broom. His mind wandered over to his second year at Hogwarts, to the whole thing with the Chamber of Secrets and Dobby.

Dobby.

Harry still felt a great deal of grief for his strange little friend.

"Dobby..." Harry muttered as his thoughts turned to the elf's last moments. He could almost hear him say-

"Harry Potter calls for Dobby?"

Harry fell back in surprise as the diminutive elf appeared right before him.

"Dobby?" Harry asked with surprise.

"Harry Potter sir knows Dobby? Harry Potter sir is truly a great wizard." Dobby proclaimed enthusiastically.

Harry couldn't help himself; he jumped up and hugged the little elf. Dobby stilled, and when Harry pulled away he looked up at the boy with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dobby. It's just that it is so great to see you again." Harry babbled a bit, before kicking himself. He was giving his secret away!

"Harry Potter sir, knew Dobby from before? From the future?" Dobby asked in awe.

"Yes, I-" Harry looked down sharply at the elf. "How did you-"

"We elves can sense time magic. Dobby can see that it is very strong around Harry Potter sir," Dobby explained.

"Dobby, no one can know. I would be in big trouble if people found out that I'm from the future," Harry said with some panic creeping into his voice.

"Harry Potter's secrets are safe with Dobby," the elf assured Harry.

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully. Then a thought occurred to him. "How did you know to find me?"

"Dobby listens. Dobby hears when Harry Potter calls for Dobby," the excitable elf explained.

Harry blinked at that. "So you hear whenever ANYONE calls your name?"

The elf tittered with a little laugh. "Don't be silly, Harry Potter sir! We elves only hear our masters or those we have tied ourselves to."

Harry really didn't know how he felt about Dobby tying himself to Harry. There probably wasn't anything he could do about it either. The elf was pretty stubborn.

"Did Harry Potter need something?" Dobby asked eagerly.

"No... wait!" Harry said as a thought occurred to him. "Do you know of a diary that Lucius owns that has the initials TMR on it?"

Dobby wrung one of this ears in his little hands. "What does Harry Potter sir want with such a dark thing?"

"We need to destroy it, Dobby. Can you help us? Can you bring it here?" Harry asked. He hated that he was using his little friend, but this was important.

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter sir! But Dobby cannot bring Master's things outside the manor without Master's permission." Dobby pulled at his ears piteously.

Harry's shoulder's slumped. There went that hope.

Dobby suddenly straightened up. "But Dobby can take Harry Potter sir to it," the elf announced with a sly smile.

Harry perked up. "You can? How?"

"Harry Potter is still little, so Dobby can use house-elf magic to pop Harry Potter into Master's house and pop back out," Dobby said proudly.

Harry looked confused. "But isn't that still taking out something of your Master's?"

Dobby hopped excitedly as he shook his head. "No, DOBBY is not taking Master's things. HARRY POTTER will be. Dobby is only taking Harry Potter home afterward."

Well that was a pretty fine line, but who was Harry to complain?

After a moment of contemplation, Harry said, "Okay, Dobby, let's go."

"Grab onto Dobby's hand," the elf said as he held out his arm.

Harry followed Dobby's instructions, and a second later the two disappeared with a 'pop!'

oOoOoOoOo

Harry felt a moment of disorientation upon arriving. Dobby's 'popping' wasn't nearly as turbulent as most other magical travel, but it sill took Harry a moment to re-orient himself.

Dobby tugged at his sleeve. "This way, Harry Potter sir."

Harry turned around and saw a huge bookcase. Harry gaped a bit. He hadn't known that something like this was in the Malfoy manor.

Dobby hopped impatiently. "Dobby must get evil book. Harry Potter sir is not tall enough to reach it."

Dobby used his magic to levitate a whole shelf's worth of books out. Pulling them out revealed a very ordinary looking diary.

Harry grinned widely as Dobby levitated the diary down to Harry. After catching the book, Harry opened it to verify that the initials TMR were on it.

Harry heard the door open and quickly ducked behind the large desk.

A young voice called out, "Dobby? What are you doing here?"

"Dobby is only cleaning, Young Master." Harry heard Dobby's voice reply.

"Well make yourself useful and get me a drink," the boy, who Harry now identified as Draco Malfoy, ordered.

"Right away, Young Master." With that, Dobby disappeared with a pop.

A few seconds later there was another pop, and Harry heard Dobby say, "Here is pumpkin juice for Young Master."

"Stick around. I might want a snack or something later," Draco said.

"Yes, Young Master," the elf said obediently.

Harry chanced a glance and saw that Draco had taken one of the many books from the shelf and was reading. Harry felt a bit panicked. He had to do something to make Draco go away, otherwise he would be caught. If only Dobby were free, he could just pop them both out to safety...

A mischievous grin spread across Harry's face as inspiration hit him. Taking great care, he silently took off one of his shoes and slid off the sock. He replaced the shoe, but wadded up the sock into a little ball. Harry then lobbed it at the rich boy, managing to not only hit him in the head, but to have it land in the boy's drink.

"Ugh!" Draco said with disgust as he fished the wet sock out of his drink to inspect it. "Dobby!"

"Yes, Young Master?" Dobby asked, his voice tinged with fear.

"Here, take this, and get me a new drink, I'm going to go see where this came from," Draco said as he handed the soaked sock to the elf.

Harry panicked as Draco came closer.

Dobby took the sock and then stilled completely. "Dobby is free," he said quietly.

Draco stopped at that.

"What?" He asked, alarmed.

"Young Master has given Dobby clothes. Dobby is free!" Dobby hopped about, wringing the pumpkin juice soaked sock.

"Dobby is free! Dobby is free! Dobby is free!" Dobby did a little dance and then disappeared with a pop.

Draco's eyes widened as the implications of what had just happened washed over him. He made a hasty retreat from the room.

When Harry was sure that Draco had left, he came out from behind the desk. Harry couldn't help the laughter that sprang from his lips. He was able to catch a glimpse of the ponce's face before he ran away.

After a moment, Harry looked around to see if Dobby had come back yet.

Not seeing the elf, Harry called for him.

There was no reply.

Harry started to panic a little. Dobby was his only way out!

"Dobby!" He called again in a harsh whisper. Harry crept around as if looking for the elf to be hiding somewhere. "Dobby!"

It was then that he felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder.

Harry stiffened, his insides freezing. He felt himself whirled around and got a look at his captor.

"Snape!" Harry exclaimed. A strange mixture of relief and dread flooded through him.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" Snape asked harshly of the gaping boy. Looking down at what Harry was holding, he quickly figured it out. "Never mind, I take it that is the diary?"

Harry nodded, too much in shock to speak.

"Give it to me," Snape ordered, and Harry handed it to him. Snape waved his wand over Harry and muttered an incantation. Harry felt himself get smaller and smaller. Soon, Snape was like a giant to him. Snape quickly conjured up an unbreakable glass jar and scooped the grasshopper Harry up. "You really are more trouble than you are worth, Potter," Snape said as he pocketed the jar.

The world went dark to Harry, as he heard Snape's booming voice. Harry trembled a little as he was jostled about in the jar.

He felt Snape stop and heard another booming voice.

"Leaving so soon, Severus?"

Harry decided that it must be Lucius, and then he heard Snape speak again. "Yes, I'm afraid there is an urgent matter that I've just remembered. I'm terribly sorry that I cannot stay longer."

"What is that in your robe pocket?" Lucius asked curiously.

Severus took the jar containing Harry out. "This? Oh, this is for a new potion I've been experimenting with."

Harry quivered a little, as he wasn't completely sure that Snape was lying. He did sound serious after all.

"Oh, well good luck with that," Lucius said, bored with the subject already.

"Thank you, Lucius, now I must be off," Snape said as he headed for the floo.

Harry tried to brace himself as best he could for the rough ride to come.

oOoOoOoOo

Snape entered Potter manor with no small amount of distaste. Upon arriving through the floo, he spotted the werewolf.

"Lupin! Call Black, I have something that you might have been missing," Snape said curtly.

Remus was puzzled but called for Sirius anyway.

Soon enough Snape, Remus, and Sirius were gathered in the parlor.

"What's this about Snape?" Sirius asked bluntly.

Snape pulled out the jar containing a small grasshopper and released the insect while muttering, "I really should use you for potions, and save us all some trouble."

"Wha-" Sirius started, but was interrupted by the sight of the grasshopper changing into Harry.

Sirius exploded. "Bloody Hell! You greasy git! What are you doing transfiguring MY godson into an bug?"

"YOUR godson was sneaking around in Malfoy manor! If it hadn't been for me, Lucius would have surely caught him!" Snape said scathingly.

Sirius shut up at that and looked over at Harry.

"Is that true?" Remus asked, his voice was deceptively calm.

Harry nodded. "I was trying to find the diary, and I got it!" he said in his defense.

"Explain," Remus said in a tight voice.

Harry gulped and went into an explanation of the last hour. He had tried to be as vague as possible, but it was still pretty damning.

"He was also just standing out in the open, anyone could have seen him," Snape pointed out.

Harry glared at Snape, he didn't have to say THAT!

"Do you have anything to add, Harry?" Remus asked, with his rage barely contained.

Harry mutely shook his head and looked down. His stomach was in knots.

Remus let out a deep breath and said, "All right, Harry, I want you to go to your room and find a corner to stand in."

Harry's head shot up. He gaped at Remus' command. "No! I'm not going to stand in the corner like a sodding five-year-old!"

Harry instantly regretted his words upon seeing the furious look on Remus' face.

Remus crossed the room in three quick strides. Turning Harry around, he landed five hard smacks on the boy's bottom.

"You SMACK! Are SMACK! In SMACK Enough SMACK! Trouble as it is! SMACK! If you don't go this instant, then by Merlin, I swear I will pull you over my knee right here and now to give you a taste of what's to come!" Remus threatened as he landed the swats.

Harry gulped and scuttled off to his room, his backside stinging a bit as he hurried. Harry hoped Remus calmed down before he had to face him again. He looked like he wanted to kill him!

Harry made his way to his room and quickly found a corner to stick his nose in. He really didn't want to anger Remus any more than he had to.

Harry's bottom tingled with anticipation; it was still mildly stingy from the few hard swats that Remus had landed earlier. Harry's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he realized that Snape had been in the room.

A sense of dread settled into his stomach like a lead weight as he waited for his punishment. A part of him couldn't help but wonder how things had gone so wrong.

oOoOoOoOo

A smug smile spread across Snape's face as he watched the boy leave. "It is good to see that you aren't spoiling the boy rotten and are willing to take a firm hand to the Boy Who Lived when he is naughty." Snape emphasized the last word for effect.

Sirius looked like he wanted to object, but he really had nothing to say in Harry's defense. It was completely true. So he settled for muttering 'greasy git' under his breath.

Remus shot Sirius a glare and then looked at Snape impatiently. "Is there anything else you need, Severus?"

"No, Lupin. I should be getting this Horcrux to Dumbledore so that we can destroy it." Snape patted his robe pocket.

Remus nodded curtly. "Thank you, Severus."

It was with that clear dismissal that Snape left, leaving the two Marauders alone in the parlor.

"Are you really going to, you know..." Sirius was embarrassed to say the words, although he didn't know why.

"Am I going to spank Harry?" Remus asked. Seeing Sirius nod, he explained. "Yes, indeed I will. Harry deserves it. What he did was extremely dangerous."

"But he's James' son..." Sirius said weakly. He didn't know why he was protesting, it was just that the whole situation seemed so surreal.

"And that's exactly why he needs to be punished. What do you think James would do if he were here?" Remus looked at Sirius, his eyebrow raised at the question.

Sirius let out a sigh. "He probably would have blistered his arse, like Mr. Potter did to us when he found out we were illegal animagus."

Remus winced in remembrance of the event. He had been included in the punishment for keeping the secret. Mr. Potter had intended on getting them registered, but he was killed in action shortly after making the discovery. That wasn't the first time that Mr. Potter had disciplined them all though; they did have a propensity for trouble in their younger years.

Remus nodded. "So, it's not a matter of 'can we' that we should be thinking of, but rather 'can we not'?"

Sirius nodded but still looked a little uncomfortable. "Umm, should I be doing this? I am his godfather, after all."

Remus looked intently at Sirius. "Is that what you want? I don't mind enforcing the discipline. We just need to make sure that Harry understands how serious this was. This is not a matter to be taken lightly."

Sirius averted his eyes, ashamed. He felt like somehow he was neglecting his godfatherly duties, but he couldn't bring himself to spank the boy.

Remus put his hand on the other man's shoulder. "It's okay, Padfoot. Parenting is hard. It is sometimes difficult to play the 'bad guy'. I'll handle the discipline if you are uncomfortable. We just need to be sure that we are on the same page here."

Sirius looked up and offered a wane smile. "Thanks, Moony."

Remus gave a reassuring squeeze before releasing Sirius' shoulder. "Anytime."

A rueful smile crossed Sirius' face. "Sometimes I think that the world's gone crazy, imagine, ME being responsible."

"The world must surely be coming to an end," Remus said as a wry smile spread across his face.

The two Marauder's spent a moment to appreciate the changes in their life, each of them pondering the impact that Harry coming into their lives had brought about.

Remus' smile soon faded away and he sighed. "I had better go, there is a very naughty boy that needs a spanking."

Sirius simply nodded, and Remus left for Harry's room.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His mind went over his actions in the last hour. He cursed himself for running into the situation half cocked; he hadn't thought things through at all. Remus was definitely going to kill him. He was sooo dead...

Harry's thoughts we're interrupted by the sound of someone entering the room. Harry jumped and turned around.

Remus looked sternly at the boy. "Put your nose back in that corner! I didn't say you could turn around."

Harry quickly returned to facing the wall. Dread washed through him as he spotted the large hairbrush.

"Please! Not the hairbrush!" Harry begged.

"I don't want to hear it, Harry! I told you before that putting your life in danger would earn you the hairbrush, and I keep my promises," Remus said firmly.

"I'm sorry!" Harry said pitifully.

"Not as sorry as you are going to be," Remus promised. "You are going to stand in that corner for another five minutes and think about the bad choices you made."

Harry whimpered, but otherwise stayed quiet.

Remus sat on the bed and then waited for five minutes before calling Harry from his corner.

Harry dragged his feet as he made his way to Remus. He was sorely tempted to make a break for it. But he had learned his lesson the last time, after his first spanking, Remus had followed though on his promise and gave him another spanking the next day before bedtime. It was a short spanking, but on his already sore bum, it felt ten times worse than it should have.

Harry stood before Remus. The man gripped his shoulders for good measure; Remus didn't want Harry to bolt this time.

"Harry, I'm sure you understand that you're going to get a very hard spanking today," Remus said in a stern tone.

Harry hung his head and nodded. He had resigned himself to his fate.

Remus steeled himself for what he had to say next, he needed to be firm. "In addition to your spanking today, which will be with the hairbrush, you are grounded for the next week. During that time you will receive a spanking before bedtime every night."

Harry's head snapped up at that. "A spanking every night for a week?" he asked horrified.

"Yes, but it won't be a full spanking unless you misbehave. As long as you exhibit good behavior, you will only receive twenty swats on the bare with my hand," Remus explained.

Well, that didn't sound absolutely terrible, but it was still a week's worth of spanking. He really wouldn't be able to sit for a week!

"Also, I want you to complete a five foot essay by the end of the week on the dangers of your little plan, and the steps you should take to think things through before making such poor choices." Remus went on. "You will spend one hour each day at the kitchen table doing this assignment, until you finish. Then you will spend that time studying history."

Harry groaned. The kitchen chairs were very hard, and his feet didn't touch the floor. All his weight would be on his very sore bottom. That was quite an impressive list, and he wondered if Remus had any other punishments in mind.

"Harry, I want you to bare your bottom and lie over my lap. If you try to run, I will make tomorrow's spanking a full one." With that promise, Remus released the boy.

Harry whimpered. He knew that Remus wasn't making an empty threat! It was with shaking hands and pleading eyes that he moved to obey. Remus only looked at him expectantly, and so Harry undid the zipper on his trousers and lowered them. His pants followed soon after. Trying to preserve his modesty, he quickly draped himself over the man's lap.

Remus tapped the hairbrush lightly on the boy's bottom to get his attention. "As I promised you before, I'm going to give you a good long spanking with the hairbrush. I hope that this deters you in the future from putting yourself in danger."

Remus allowed Harry a moment to feel the cold hard wood against his skin before bringing the brush down on the pale bottom with a terrific CRACK!

Harry gasped, it really hurt! By the third stroke there were tears forming in his eyes. He was crying freely by the fifth, all the while yelping and squirming for all that he was worth.

"OWWWW! I'm soooorrrrryyyyy!" he cried out.

"I certainly CRACK! hope CRACK! so! What you did was reckless and very foolish!" CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Remus scolded as he laid down firm swats with the brush.

Harry bounced around wildly, but was held down firmly by Remus' strong arm.

Remus was sure to cover the entire bottom. Under his relentless swats the pasty bottom changed from white to a dusty pink rather quickly.

"Aaaahhhh! Pleeeeaassseeee! OWWWW!" Harry sobbed out. It felt as if someone was applying a blowtorch to his bottom! Each swat stung and burned, growing in intensity by the second.

"Why are you being spanked?" Remus questioned after landing a particularly vicious swat to the boy's sit spot.

"OWWW! Be- OW! Because I put myself in OWWWW! Danger! OWWW. Please no more!" Harry begged.

Remus spanked Harry soundly while continuing his lecture. "You have CRACK! got to learn CRACK! to trust the adults around you. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! And not CRACK! run headlong into danger!"

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Harry howled as those last swats targeted his sit spot. He was never going to sit again! He was indeed one very sorry little boy. He writhed and wiggled, but nothing could stop Remus from landing the searing swats right where he wanted them.

Harry had never felt so small and helpless before. But that was just it, wasn't it? He wasn't in control anymore. He wasn't an adult; he was a child. His burning bottom drove that sense of childishness home. It was hard to feel like an adult when someone was blistering your arse. But somehow Harry felt a sense of relief at that. He didn't have to be strong anymore. The world didn't depend on him to save everyone. He didn't have to be the 'golden boy' or live up to the image of the 'boy who lived'. He could be 'just Harry'. Just a naughty little boy that was being punished for his misbehavior. It was strange how having rules to follow and someone to call him on it if he broke them was a comfort to him.

Remus could tell it was nearly time to finish up, but he still felt that he needed to drive the point home. Taking note of Harry's dark red bottom, he lifted his leg and concentrated on the boy's thighs. Harry's struggles went up a notch, and he wailed loudly. Remus didn't let up until the boy's thighs were a dark pink.

Harry lay across Remus' lap completely defeated. He no longer struggled; he just went limp and sobbed continuously.

Remus paused. He knew that he should finish up. "Are you going to put yourself in danger again?" he asked, as he rubbed the brush against the boy's sit spots.

"N-no, never!" Harry sobbed out. He would promise to be good the rest of his life if Remus would just stop.

"Good!" With that Remus landed five more hard swats to the boy's sit spot and then dropped the brush.

Harry cried harder when those last swats landed. His bottom burned like a fiery inferno.

Remus rubbed gentle circles on the boy's back, waiting for the boy's sobs to slow. After a minute, Remus repositioned Harry to sit in his lap, with the boy's burning bottom resting between his spread legs. Harry clung to Remus, crying into his shoulder.

Remus did all he could to calm the boy down. He carded his fingers through the child's hair and rocked him gently while whispering reassurances under his breath. Harry's sobs eventually subsided into the occasional sniffle, and he rested his head against Remus' shoulder.

"Harry, I don't think you know how much you mean to me and Sirius. We would DIE if something happened to you," Remus said as he idly stroked the boy's hair.

Guilt flooded through Harry since he could relate very well to how it felt to lose someone close to him, and his eyes filled with tears at that statement. "I'm really sorry, Remus," he said sincerely.

"Yes, well you need to learn to think things through so that you are not sorry later," Remus admonished lightly.

Harry nodded in agreement before resting his head on Remus' shoulder again. His eyelids grew heavy. He felt so safe, warm and... well, loved. It was with a content smile on his face that he drifted off to sleep.

Remus looked down at his charge with a fond smile on his face. Harry had always been precious to the Marauders, because it was rather like he was the child of them all. But, in the last few weeks, Harry had begun to hold a very special place in his heart. He wondered if this was what fatherhood felt like. His mind idly wandered to think about his own possible future. He wondered if he would still get together with Tonks and have Teddy. Remus brushed a stray hair from Harry's face and thought of what the future might hold for this child. He could only hope for the best.

Remus lifted the small child up and carried him to his bed. It was still mid-day, but it seemed like Harry would benefit from a nap. Remus laid Harry face down on his bed and then transfigured his clothes into lightweight pajamas. He draped only the sheet over the sleeping boy, thinking that the less weight on the child's very sore bottom the better. Remus planted a gentle kiss on the boy's forehead and then spelled the curtains shut. He spared one last glance at the sleeping boy and then dimmed the lights before leaving the room.

A peaceful smile spread across Harry's face as slept.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry leaned against Sirius as he read. As long as he did that, all his weight wouldn't be on his bum. Currently, he was reading a muggle fantasy novel. It was interesting to read what muggles came up with, and Harry found himself enjoying the book immensely.

At 7:30 Remus looked up. He closed his book and looked at Harry. "Time to get ready for bed, Harry."

Harry blinked and then turned to the clock. Sure enough, it was still 7:30. "But I still have an hour!" he protested.

"Not while you are grounded. Your bedtime is now 8:00 until next week," Remus explained.

"But-" Harry began.

"Harry," Remus said in a stern voice.

Harry shut up upon hearing the warning tone. With a sigh, he stood up and made his way to his bedroom to get ready for bed.

"Oh, and Harry?" Remus' voice stopped him as he ascended the stairs. "I want you to wait in a corner for me."

Harry bit back his protest and sighed, "Yes, sir." Then he made his way to his room.

Fifteen minutes later found Harry squirming with dread.

The day had not been fun. Remus had given him reprieve from the essay the previous day, but today he offered no mercy. Harry's bum was still very tender from his spanking yesterday. The kitchen chairs were indeed just as hard as he remembered them to be, and he fought hard to find a comfortable sitting position. Going through the essay, he found that he wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. He despaired when he had gotten through a foot only to have Remus come in, and tell him to re-do it.

"Let's try smaller writing and more detail, Harry," Remus suggested.

Harry had somehow survived that hour, but he didn't think he could take six more of them!

The rest of the day wasn't so bad, even though Harry was banned from flying as part of his grounding—not that he would have flown anyway with such a sore bum. So the trio spent most of the day playing games or simply talking.

Remus' arrival shook Harry out of his thoughts. The man strode over to Harry's bed and seated himself. "Okay, Harry. I think you know what to do."

Harry groaned and dragged his feet. "Please, Remus? I'm really sorry," Harry said pitifully.

"I'm sure you are, but Harry, I want you to remember this: actions have consequences," Remus said.

"But, my bum is already so sore," Harry lamented.

"Good, that sore bum is to remind you to make the right choices when presented with them. Did you ever think that you could have called for one of us, and perhaps had Severus work with Dobby to get the diary?" Remus questioned.

Harry blinked. That had honestly never occurred to him! "Umm... No, I didn't think."

"And that is exactly why you need to be punished. It serves as a reminder so that next time you do think and make smarter, safer choices," Remus explained.

Harry sighed, but nodded in agreement.

"Now, enough stalling, come here, Harry," Remus beckoned.

Harry moved with great reluctance. He lowered his pajama bottoms and presented his still pink bum to Remus.

Remus didn't make Harry wait long. He brought his hand down hard on the upturned bottom. SMACK!

"Owwww!" Harry yelped out.

Remus landed brisk swats to the small pink bottom on his lap. After the initial swat, he had decreased the force so that he was using mostly his wrist, not that Harry could appreciate it. As far as he was concerned, his poor bottom was being spanked off!

After landing ten swats, Remus paused. "What is this spanking for?"

Tears were making a steady stream down Harry's face as he answered. "F-for putting myself in danger," Harry said with a slight hitch in his voice.

"That is correct," Remus said as he brought his hand down again.

Harry writhed and wiggled as Remus' hand continued to descend on his burning bottom. Each swat reignited the fire from yesterday's spanking. He was sobbing by the fifteenth swat.

Remus lifted one leg while dropping the other, and Harry sobbed harder at the implications of that. Remus targeted the last five swats to Harry's sensitive sit spot, adding a bit more force to these swats than the previous ones.

Harry sobbed hard. It didn't matter that the spanking wasn't very hard or long. It didn't have to be. He had been soundly spanked the day before, so this spanking felt ten times worse than it should have. Harry felt his pajama bottoms being pulled up, and he was righted so that he was sitting on Remus' lap.

Harry clung to the man for comfort and sobbed into his chest. Remus rocked him and stroked his hair. Harry relaxed under the man's ministrations and idly wondered if this was what it was like to have a father. When he had calmed down, Remus carried him to his bed and helped him get in. Harry lied on his stomach, and Remus brought his covers up to his chin. Remus turned to leave, and Harry couldn't help the burst of childishness he felt. His hand shot out to grab Remus' robes. Just as quickly as he had done it, he released his hold.

Remus turned around and smiled gently, he understood. "Don't worry, I was just about to dim the lights. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

Harry gave a sheepish smile and then yawned. Remus dimmed the lights and then landed a gentle kiss on the boy's forehead, before conjuring a short chair next to the bed and seating himself. Harry smiled contently as Remus rubbed his back, soothing him to sleep.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"School?" Harry asked, surprise tingeing his voice.

"Yes, school. We both feel that you need to be doing something more productive with your time," Remus said as he held out a book bag for Harry to take.

"I don't need school! I already completed primary anyway." Harry crossed his arms and shook his head. He wasn't going to take the pro-offered bag.

"This is different than a normal primary school; it offers courses such as Latin and some advanced subjects. I'm fairly certain that you'll find yourself challenged enough," Remus said firmly.

"But-" Harry started.

Remus cut the boy off. "How about this? I'll make you a deal. You go one day and if you don't like it, we will withdraw you from the school and figure out something else. Sound good?"

Harry shut his mouth and considered his guardian's words. He would only have to endure one day, how hard could that be?

"Okay, fine," he said with a huff as he took the book bag.

Remus smiled and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Good, now come on. You don't want to be late to your first day, now do you?"

Harry grumbled as they made their way to the floo.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry launched into Remus, nearly bowling the man over in his enthusiasm.

"Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou!" Harry managed to say in one breath.

Remus chuckled. "What's this about?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

Harry rolled his eyes even as he smiled. "Didn't you know? Hermione just happens to attend that school."

"Wow, what a happy coincidence," Remus said while fighting to keep his face straight. "So I guess you will be staying at the school?"

"You even have to ask?" Harry asked rhetorically. He had wanted to see his friends again and meet them earlier this time around. However all the adults had vetoed the idea. They wanted to keep his exposure to the wizarding world to a minimum.

Remus ruffled the boy's hair and smiled. "Now, I'm sure you want to get your homework done right away, don't you?"

Harry groaned as he made his way into the house. Even as he fished out his schoolwork, a happy smile played upon his lips. He hummed a cheerful little tune as he worked his way through his homework.

oOoOoOoOo

_Author's note: Yes I know that the Potter grandparents died of natural causes, but I couldn't help but tweak that a little. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!_


	5. Fighting Spirit

One More Time, With Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

_Author's note as of 05/24/10: So I tweaked this chapter a little since it was first posted. Just a few little things, and I added a little scene between Remus and Sirius. I want to thank Sir Percy Blakeney for the idea._

Chapter 5

oOoOoOoOoOo

Fighting Spirit

oOoOoOoOoOo

Hermione Granger was a sensible girl; she understood that she would never be popular. The way the world worked, it was often the pretty or well-connected girls that succeeded in life. Although she had a realistic (jaded) outlook, it didn't stop her from hoping. Often times she would try to help her classmates, but they seemed to resent her for it. She knew was much too smart, too studious and all too eager in class. In a school full of gifted children, everyone was striving to be the best. Jealousy run rampant among her classmates as she clearly outshone them and was top of her class. She didn't have any friends; she knew that the only people that put up with her were only interested in what she could do for them. She resigned herself to the fact that there would always be a distance between herself and her peers. That's why she was surprised and suspicious by the appearance of one Harry Potter.

"Hi! Can I sit here?" An eager voice startled Hermione from the book she was reading.

It was early in the morning, many children that had been dropped off by their parents early gathered in the cafeteria. Hermione's parents always dropped her off at school a half an hour early, and then went to work. Even though many of the children that arrived early took that time to eat breakfast, Hermione always read. Her family believed in eating breakfast together, even though it was early. The other children mostly left her alone during that time, so it was a surprise when she found her reading time interrupted.

Looking up she found the owner of the voice to be a small boy; he looked about a year or two younger than her.

She shrugged, although a little puzzled at why the boy had chosen to sit next to her; there were many other seats available. "Go ahead," she said as she returned to her book.

"My name's Harry Potter. What's yours?" The boy, Harry, asked.

"Hermione Granger." She looked up and studied the boy's face. She might not have a lot of contact with the younger kids, but the school was small enough that pretty much everyone knew each other, even if only in passing. "I haven't seen you before, are you new?"

"Yup! Today is my first day!" The boy chirped happily.

"Oh, that's nice, do you need help finding your way around?" She asked with a polite smile.

Harry grinned. "That would be great! Thanks Hermione!"

Hermione was taken off guard a bit by the boy's enthusiastic familiarity. _Well, he doesn't know me that well._ A little voice said. _I shouldn't expect too much._

"What class are you in? I can help you find your classroom." She said helpfully.

"I'm in class 502." Harry replied.

Hermione blinked surprised. That was her class! "How old are you?" She blurted out.

"I'm nine, why?" Harry asked curiously.

"I though you were seven or eight." Hermione admitted.

Harry pouted a bit. "I'm just a little short for my age."

"Oh." Hermione blushed at her hasty judgment. "I'm sorry."

The boy's grin returned. "It's okay, Hermione. I guess it's an easy mistake to make."

Hermione looked at her watch. "We have about twenty minutes before class starts, why don't I show you around the school?" She suggested.

Harry stood up quickly. "That sounds great, thanks Hermione!"

Hermione was once again struck by the boy's easy acceptance of her. _That will soon change once he gets to know you._ An ugly little voice whispered.

Hermione ignored the little voice as she led Harry around the school, but she couldn't completely squash the lingering doubt.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry settled into life at his new school. True to Remus' word, many of the classes were actually challenging. Although, having never taken a foreign language, he was struggling in Latin. The other classes were demanding, but he really didn't have to work too hard to keep up since he had mostly learned everything already. At least it kept him from being bored. The best thing about it all was seeing Hermione again. Even though it was great spending the summer with Sirius and Remus, he still found that he missed his friends. Hermione was very much the way he remembered her, except...

Except she seemed more distant and almost hesitant. Harry wondered if it was simply because she was younger than when he had first met her, or if it was something else. He looked up from his swing to see Hermione buried in a book. Harry sighed. He knew that she was a bookworm, but really, it was recess. He would have thought that she would play just a little.

"Well, well. If it isn't the newbie shrimp and the teacher's pet." A hateful voice sneered.

Harry scowled and turned toward the voice. Warren Prescott. Warren was a sixth year, he was big for his age and dumb as a brick. Harry suspected it was only the deep pockets of the Prescott family that kept their son enrolled in the school. It was rumored that Warren had only made it through the grades through 'social promotion', otherwise the boy would have surely been held back.

"What do you want, Prescott?" Harry practically growled.

"Aww, is ickle baby Potter angry?" Prescott mocked Harry, speaking as if Harry were a baby. Harry had flashbacks of Bellatrix, causing his blood to boil.

"Shut it, Prescott." Harry said angrily.

Prescott glared. "Don't tell me what to do, shrimp."

Hermione decided to speak up. "Did you need something, Prescott?" She said evenly.

The older boy focused his attention on Hermione, upon hearing her voice. "I hear that you made top of your class, teacher's pet. I bet you sucked up to all the teachers to be able to beat Amanda."

Amanda was Warren's sister, and was in Harry and Hermione's class. She was a bright girl, but with Hermione, and then Harry, her ranking was now third in the class.

"You prat! Hermione worked hard to be top of her class! You take that back!" Harry said angrily.

"Make me, shrimp." Prescott taunted.

"Harry, it's okay, let's just go." Hermione tugged at Harry's arm.

Harry glared at the bully as he allowed Hermione to lead him away.

"You're just a know-it-all freak!" Prescott called out.

Harry saw red at that, he was reminded of all the times the Dursleys had belittled him. A quick glance at Hermione spoke volumes for how the bully's words were affecting her. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her lip quivered ever so slightly. Harry didn't even think as he pulled his arm away from Hermione and ran toward the bully. Not expecting the small boy to launch at him, Prescott was totally taken off guard when Harry threw a punch right square on his jaw.

The blow only knocked the older boy back a few steps. "You bloody runt, that hurt!" Prescott instantly retaliated, tackling the small boy, he had Harry pinned to the ground and was punching him.

Harry put his arms up to protect his face; anger surged through him as the blows rained down upon his arms. He felt his magic gather inside of him, and with his rage, he pushed it outward.

Prescott was blown off of Harry and landed hard against the play structure behind him. With a sickening thud the bully hit his head on the wooden beam and crumpled like a rag doll.

Harry looked up just in time to see Hermione rushing toward him followed by the recess supervisor.

Uh, oh.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Prescott ended up with minor concussion, and so the school was forced to take action. Since Harry had thrown the first punch and was the least injured, the blame had been squarely placed on his shoulders. Harry was suspended for three days. He had to wait by the headmaster's office for Remus and Sirius to pick him up.

Harry gulped upon seeing Remus' stern expression; he was not looking forward to whatever Remus had in store for him.

The trip home was a quiet one. When they arrived, Harry was healed from the minor scrapes and scratches he had acquired and then was promptly sent to his room. Lunch would be sent up to him and then Remus would 'discuss' Harry's behavior with him.

Sighing heavily, Harry threw himself onto his bed. His stomach turned and it felt like a rock had settled in there as he thought of Remus' reaction.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Aww, c'mon Moony. Do you really have to be so hard on the boy?" Sirius said lightly. "I mean, really, did you see the other kid? He was twice Harry's size!"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed angrily through gritted teeth. "I thought we agreed that Harry would need discipline from time to time."

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but this was just a little scuffle. You know how little boys are, they get into fights sometimes, it toughens them up."

"This is serious, Harry is much to mature for that sort of thing." Remus explained. "Besides, this would only spell trouble if we don't nip the problem in the bud. Harry will be magically more powerful than his peers, if he gets in the habit of solving his problems with violence now, think of how much worse it will be when he gets to Hogwarts and can use magic."

Sirius sighed, he knew Remus was right, but he remembered how much he had hated it when Mr. Potter had spanked him when he was young and wished he could spare his Godson the experience.

"Already, he used magic in the fight, even though I think it was mostly accidental." Remus reminded.

"I know, Moony. It's just… Go easy on him, okay?" Sirius pleaded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'll give him no more than he deserves." Remus promised as he left the room, ending the discussion.

Remus sighed. He hated being the responsible one.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lunch came and went and then, all too soon, Remus entered the room. He walked over to the child, who had been pacing, and put his hands on the boy's shoulders to turn the boy so that he was facing him.

Looking at the squirming child intently, he said. "Explain, please." It was a quiet command but Harry heard the steel undertone within it nonetheless.

The boy gulped before blurting out. "He started it! He was calling Hermione names and stuff!" Harry inwardly cringed at how childish he sounded.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose that it was also his face that slammed into your fist that started the physical fight as well."

"Erm..." Harry was unsure of how to answer that.

"How did the other boy end up with a mild concussion?" Remus' tone was deceptively mild.

"Umm... Well, I might've lost control of my magic..." Harry began weakly. One of the things that he had been practicing with his guardians was control over his magic, he was suppose to learn to control his emotions so that the magic didn't lash out. "I-I... He was punching me! I couldn't get him off!" Harry defended.

"If you were not in the fight to begin with, you would not have lost control of your magic." Remus pointed out.

Harry couldn't really argue at that logic. But he stubbornly shook his head, he wasn't wrong!

Remus sighed and said. "Harry, I'm very disappointed that you started the fight. I know that the other boy might have said some nasty things, but you can't just attack every person that says something disagreeable." Remus' voice was laced with disappointment. "And I know you know better than to raise to some bully's bait."

"But..." Harry began.

Remus interrupted, "with your magic you might have seriously hurt the boy, would he have deserved it for merely badmouthing you? What would you have done if your magic had done more than knock him out?"

Harry paled at the thought, he knew that lately he was prone to setting things on fire or blowing them up when he let his magic get out of control. He didn't really want to hurt the other boy; he just wanted to get back at him for nearly making Hermione cry.

Harry studied his feet, his face flushed with shame. He hated hearing the disappointment in Remus' voice, even though he didn't think he was completely wrong he knew that he could have handled things better. He SHOULD have known better, he was 17 after all...

He nearly jumped when Remus sighed and put his hand on his shoulder again.

"Harry, look at me," he said gently, but firmly.

Harry lifted his head to look into Remus' amber eyes, and he fought the urge to avert his gaze from the man's.

"Harry, I know that you didn't intend for things to get out of hand. I really do wish that you had not resorted to violence, but I am proud of you for standing up for your friend." Remus' voice conveyed his sincerity.

Harry stood in wonder, a warm feeling washed over him upon hearing those words. He had heard so little praise growing up and having Remus say those words rendered him nearly speechless.

Harry's eyes teared up as he stammered, "T-thank you."

Remus pulled the child into an embrace and Harry buried his face into the man's chest. Remus' shirt soaked up Harry's tears as the boy calmed himself.

Harry pulled away and studied his feet again as a thought occurred to him. "Are- are you still going to spa- erm... punish me?"

Remus looked at the boy intently. "Don't you believe that you deserve a spanking?"

Harry squirmed under the man's gaze. "Well... I AM really sorry... And I didn't MEAN for things to get out of hand, it was mostly an accident after all..." Harry began.

Remus gestured for Harry to continue.

"So- so I think I don't need a spanking." Harry finished, trying to sound as confident as possible.

Remus raised one eyebrow. "Really? Put yourself in my place, if your ward had done what you did, would you spank him?"

Harry bit his lip. "Well, if he was really sorry..." Harry started unconvincingly.

Remus shot the boy an incredulous look.

Harry stomped his feet. "But I don't WANT a spanking." He whined, somewhere inside of him he dismayed at how childish he was behaving.

Remus bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at Harry's reaction. "No one WANTS a spanking, but I do believe that a spanking is just what you need and deserve." He seated himself on the bed and beckoned the pouting child to him.

Harry looked up pleadingly one more time before reluctantly making his way over to Remus. He let out a regretful sigh as he bared his bottom and draped himself over the man's lap.

Remus didn't waste his time; as soon as Harry was in position he brought his hand down on the quivering target with a loud SMACK!

Harry yelped at the sting, even though he had tried to prepare himself the first swat still caught him off guard.

Remus brought his hand down at a furious pace making sure to cover the entire bottom.

Harry squirmed for all he was worth but Remus kept him firmly in place with his strong arm. The man's broad hand nearly covered Harry's entire little bottom. His posterior stung and burned with every swat and Harry let out a little yelp every time Remus' hard hand made contact with it. Pride had gone out the window since it had done nothing for him the last couple times. For the moment Harry completely embraced his childish self and behaved exactly as a nine year old would in the same situation.

Harry cried and kicked as Remus set fire to his bottom. Feeling every bit the way any naughty child did during a spanking, he begged and pleaded with Remus and promised to be good for the rest of his life. Harry was quite certain that he would never sit again.

Remus was a bit taken aback by Harry's reaction, he had been spanked much harder the last time and he hadn't reacted like this. Dumbledore had warned them that that Harry might become more childish as his core reached it's balance, so Remus figured that it must be Harry merging further with his child self that caused him to regress more. He surveyed the boy's reddened bottom, it was the color of an unripened watermelon.

"What is this spanking for?" Remus questioned the crying child as he landed a sharp swat to the child's sit spot.

"OWWww! F-for Owww fighting. I'm OWww Sorry! OWWWW!" Harry yelped out.

Remus concentrated his next swats onto Harry's sensitive sit spots as he lectured.

"That's ((SMACK!)) right! ((SMACK!)) Violence should be the last resort in solving a conflict ((SMACK!)) I expected better from you ((SMACK!))" Remus interspersed his speech with hard swats. He was well aware of how hypocritical his lecture sounded, but there seemed to be no way around it. Harry HAD done something that warranted a spanking, there was just no way around that fact.

Harry sobbed as his sit spots were attacked. They burned and stung fiercely, his legs kicked out with every swat. "I'm Owww! Sorrrryyyyy!"

Remus decided to finish up; he wanted to make sure that Harry understood how serious this was though. He rubbed the boy's back and waited for his sobs to slow. After Harry had calmed down enough that he could listen, Remus summoned a slipper from across the room.

Harry had thought that the spanking was over when he heard Remus summon a slipper. His eyes widened. "No! Please! I'm sorry!"

"Yes, I'm sure you will be. I'm sorry, but fighting in school warrants more than a simple hand spanking. You are going to get six of the best with the slipper." With that said, Remus brought the slipper down hard on the boy's sensitive sit spot.

Harry howled as the slipper set his bottom on fire, Remus laid all six swats to the same spot making it feel like a blow-torch was being applied to his bottom.

Harry's bottom was practically glowing by the end of it; he lay limply over Remus' lap, sobbing hard.

Even though this was the lightest spanking the boy had received, the child was still crying like it was the end of the world. As far as Harry was concerned, every spanking was the worst. Remus righted Harry so that the boy was sitting in his lap. He pulled the child into an embrace and the boy wept on his shoulder. Remus held Harry close until the boy's sobs had died down to the occasional sniffle. After pulling away from the child, he stood Harry up and helped the boy fix his clothes.

Harry whimpered as the fabric was pulled over his sore bum, he knew for sure that he would never sit again! He blushed a little as Remus guided him to lie on the bed. Harry looked up questioningly.

"I think you could use a nap." Remus explained as he transfigured Harry's clothes into lightweight pajamas.

It was only mid-afternoon! "I'm not a baby, I don't need a nap!" Harry protested weakly, even as he allowed Remus to tuck him in. The emotional turmoil from the spanking and all the crying had left the child feeling fatigued.

Remus simply smiled as he rubbed Harry's back, lulling him to sleep. Despite Harry's protests, the boy's eyes drooped close under Remus' ministrations.

Even when Remus heard Harry's breathing evened out, Remus sat there continuing to rub the boy's back as he was lost in thought. As much as he hated to discipline Harry, Remus was relieved that he found that Harry could get into trouble through other means then by putting himself in danger. It was good to know that not all of the trouble the boy would find himself in was life-threatening. Maybe Harry could really embrace his second childhood, and be like a normal child once in a while.

Remus could only hope.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When Harry returned to school three days later, he was surprised to find Hermione waiting for him outside the entrance to school. Hermione lightly scolded Harry on fighting before throwing her arms around him for a light hug, and thanking him for standing up for her.

"Really, Harry, it wasn't necessary. But... but thank you all the same." Hermione smiled shyly.

Harry returned the smile, and together, the two friends walked into the school.

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Author's note: One of you asked if Harry was going to be spanked every chapter, the answer is 'no', not EVERY chapter, but most of them. I have this problem with writing simple character building times unless they are doing something significant. I mostly work with the simple formula of problem and solution with some character/relationship building parts thrown into the mix. If that bores you, then I can probably recommend some other fics that might suit your taste better. _

_Oh, and for those of you who wondered why Dobby disappeared in the last chapter… Well I'm just going to say that he was caught up in the moment, and unlike last time, Harry wasn't in immediate danger to snap him out of it._

_I wanted to thank all of you that reviewed, seriously it helped my motivation. I would reread your kind words to help motivate me to write, so please review!_


	6. Sirius Discussions

One More Time, With Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

Chapter 6

_Author's note: Sorry about the confusion about the last chapter. I posted it in the chapter 5 slot originally since that was the order that I wrote it. It is now where it belongs and all the chapters following it have been moved back. So what was originally chapter 3 is now chapter 4 and so on. When I first started writing this story, I wrote the first three chapters in the span of less than a week. The birthday chapter didn't even occur to me until later, and then I realized that it needed to exist. Anyway, for those who wanted more Sirius, hope you enjoy the chapter!_

oOoOoOoOoOo

Sirius Discussions

oOoOoOoOoOo

A satisfied smile slowly spread across Harry's face as he watched the potion cool.

Tonight was the night, everything was falling into place. Tonight, he would start his journey in following in his father's foot steps, tonight he would take the first step to becoming an animagus.

It had taken him over a month to finally brew the potion correctly, even though the marauder's notes were precise and meticulously taken, the potion was _hard_. Not being the best of potions students, it took him three tries to finally get it right. The timing couldn't be better. The notes said that the potion to reveal your animal could take a few hours, so he figured it would be best to take it at night when he would be sleeping anyway. Tonight was the full moon and both Remus and Sirius would be busy, They wouldn't notice if he slept a little longer since they usually didn't get up until mid-afternoon anyway.

He glanced out the window, the full moon was up.

Perfect.

Harry poured the potion into a vial before stowing the cauldron in his closet. He crawled into bed. The potion would knock him out immediately, so he had to be prepared. He lifted the vial in a silent toast before downing it in a single gulp. Glad that the vial was unbreakable, his hand fell limply and it slid out of his hand onto the floor.

Harry was musing about what his animal would be before the blackness overtook him, and he slipped into a deep meditative state.

oOoOoOoOo

It wasn't until two in the afternoon that Sirius managed to drag himself out of bed. Making his way to the kitchen, he quickly found Kreacher.

"Has Harry taken his lunch yet?" Sirius asked with a yawn. Harry would sometimes wait for Sirius to wake up after the full moon so that he could eat lunch with his Godfather.

Kreacher shook his head. "No, Master Sirius. Young master Harry is sleepy. He has not woken up yet."

Sirius frowned. That's odd, Harry shouldn't still be asleep, he shouldn't have stayed up the night, he never did before on a full moon.

"I'll go wake him, could you start lunch for the two of us, Kreacher?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Master Sirius," the elf said obediently. Inwardly, Sirius marveled at the change in the elf.

Sirius made his way to Harry's room and knocked on the door. "Harry? It's already past two, even if you went to bed late, you shouldn't sleep all day."

Sirius waited a few minutes, expecting Harry's drowsy reply. After waiting and hearing nothing, he knocked again, this time more firmly.

"Harry! Wake up!" He said loudly through the door.

Again no reply, worried, Sirius frowned. "I'm coming in!" He warned.

Sirius opened the door, expecting to find something, he didn't know what, wrong with the boy. What he found was a peacefully sleeping Harry Potter. Growling slightly, he walked over to the bed and shook the boy.

"Harry!" Sirius said loudly. "C'mon, kiddo, wake up!"

Harry didn't even stir, and so Sirius decided to do the tried and true method. He transformed into Padfoot and began licking the boy's face. After a couple minutes, it was clear that the boy wouldn't wake, and Padfoot started to panic. He was about to transform back into a human when a scent caught his attention. Following his senses, he was able to locate the potion vial with the all too familiar scent. He transformed back into his human form and picked up the empty vial. Sirius took a whiff at the remnants of the potion and made a face in disgust. He would recognize that scent anywhere! Even though it had been years since he had taken the potion, the scent still lingered in his memory. It was the animagus revealing potion.

Suddenly everything made sense; Harry was still in the meditative state where he found his animal.

Anger coursed through Sirius as he realized that Harry had deliberately disobeyed him. He looked at the sleeping boy, and realized that he might not be waking up soon. He cast a monitoring spell on the boy, one that would let him know when the child would start to awaken. He wanted to be there for when the boy woke up. Then he went to seek out Harry's other guardian, Remus would want to know what Harry had been up to.

oOoOoOoOo

Sirius sat on the side of Remus' bed as he explained to his now awake friend his discovery of Harry's latest misadventure.

Remus sighed wearily. "I'll take care of him tomorrow, if you could just tell him how much trouble his is in then-"

"No." Sirius interrupted.

"Sirius, he needs to be punished." Remus said tiredly, he really did not want to get into an argument over this.

"I agree." Sirius said grimly. "But I think I should be the one to do it."

Remus stared at his old friend in shock. He had never actually expected that Sirius would ever step up and discipline Harry, but it seemed as if through Hell had frozen over and that day had come.

"Are you sure?" Remus said hesitantly. "Because I don't mind doing it, you just have to give me a day to rest up..."

"No." Sirius said firmly. "He not only broke the rules against magic use but he disobeyed me. I specifically told him not to do the animagus training. I know when I first gave him the Marauder's Journal that I didn't sound too serious, but I later pulled him aside and told him that the training was too dangerous alone."

"If you're sure, then I think you need to do it right." Remus said firmly. "Think of what Mr. Potter would have done in the same situation."

Sirius winced in remembrance, as he could all too clearly imagine what Mr. Potter's reaction would have been. He sighed, he had never thought he would be on this side of things, being the one doling out the punishment rather than being on the receiving end. Harry needed this though, he needed to understand that there were boundaries and consequences if he crossed them.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry awoke slowly, the odd trance-like state faded into the background letting reality reassert itself.

"Awake now?" A firm voice brought him to full wakefulness.

Harry sat up suddenly, wide-eyed, he quickly spotted Sirius sitting in the desk chair next to his bed. He quickly noted both the fact that it was dark outside, and that Sirius was holding an empty potion vial.

Crap.

"Do you want to explain this?" Sirius asked with a level voice.

"I didn't do it!" Harry blurted out in a panic, he instantly knew that he had been caught.

Sirius gripped the potion vial so tightly that Harry feared it might break despite the unbreakable charm on it. Harry gulped as he was reminded of the way Remus had acted before his first spanking. He wished more than anything that he could take back his last few words.

"Are you honestly going to sit there and tell me that you DIDN'T take that animagus potion? Are you really trying to tell me that?" Sirius' voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"Ummm... n-no." Harry looked down shame-faced. "I'm sorry! I didn't think you would mind."

Sirius looked at Harry incredulously. "What part of 'do not do any magic, especially the animagus training' did you not understand?"

Harry squirmed a bit under Sirius' gaze. "I thought that you were just saying that because you were supposed to, but I didn't think that you were serious."

Sirius closed his eyes and drew in a deep sigh before opening them again to look at Harry. "Harry, I'm sorry." Sirius said, his voice full of regret. "I think I've made a mistake, I've allowed you to think that you could get away with any mischief, and I'm sorry."

Harry looked hopeful. "I'm sorry too, it won't happen again. So no harm no foul, right?"

Sirius' gazed sharpened as he looked at Harry. "You deliberately disobeyed me, you think that you're just going to get away with that?"

"Um, well, yes?" Harry said anxiously. "I-I mean, it was a misunderstanding, wasn't it?"

"No, I think you understood me perfectly, that is why you did this on the night of the full moon, when you knew Remus and I would be occupied. You didn't want to be caught." Sirius said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Sirius sighed and steeled himself for what he knew he had to do. "Harry, you broke my trust by disobeying me, I want you to prove that I can trust you to obey me again." Sirius paused for a moment, lost in his own memories before looking at Harry with resolve. "I want you to go to Remus' room and fetch the hairbrush that is on his dresser. Remus is in bed, but he won't mind."

Harry's jaw dropped and he looked at Sirius horrified. "What? No! You can't be serious!"

Sirius thought back to the times when he disobeyed Mr. Potter and how he was once in Harry's position. Sirius walked over to the bed and pulled the boy up and seated himself in the now vacant spot. He quickly pulled the startled boy over his lap and conjured a large hairbrush, not all that unlike from the one Remus used. He then landed five hard swats to the boy's pajama clad bottom.

Harry yelped for all five swats and his eyes started to tear up. Sirius let Harry up and looked into the boy's eyes.

"That was for disobeying me just now. Now, I want you to go and get the hairbrush from Remus' room." Sirius' tone brooked no argument.

Harry couldn't help himself, he stomped his feet and said, "NO! I won't go and get the thing you're just going to smack me with!"

Sirius sighed and pulled Harry over his lap for another five swats with the conjured brush before letting Harry up again. "I think you know what to do, your punishment won't start until you obey me." Sirius hated himself for being in this position, he had absolutely hated it when Mr. Potter did this to him.

Harry gaped. "What do you mean 'the punishment won't start until I obey you'? You just smacked me!"

Sirius shook his head. "That was for disobeying me when I told you to fetch the hairbrush. That is separate from your disobedience with the animagus revealing potion." He explained.

Harry opened his mouth to protest but then firmly shut it, his bottom was already stinging, he didn't want a full spanking but it didn't look like he had any choice. As a last ditch effort he cast his best puppy dog eyes at Sirius and said pitifully. "Pleeeaasse? I'm really sorry Sirius, I won't ever disobey you again, please?"

Sirius heart wrenched, but outwardly he appeared that he was unmoved by Harry's pleas. "No, now unless you want to be pulled over my lap for another dose you should do as I say. I can do this all night."

He really hoped that the boy would relent, he didn't want to dole out anymore penalty swats, it was bad enough that he would have the spank the boy at all.

Harry whined but then turned to follow Sirius' command. He made his way to Remus' room. He entered the room with tepitation, would Remus spank him as well? Remus was normally the one that doled out the punishment, after all. Harry gave his stinging backside a little rub as his eyes searched the room. He quickly spotted Remus sitting propped up in his bed, reading a book. Remus really did look terrible, all drawn and exhausted. Harry suddenly found himself tongue-tied. He couldn't bring himself to ask for the dreaded instrument of parental disfavor. Remus looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "It's on the dresser, Harry." Remus pointed to said object, answering Harry's unasked question.

Harry reluctantly retrieved the evil brush and slowly made his way back to his room. He felt like a condemned prisoner walking to his execution. As he reached for the door knob, his hand froze. Crazy thoughts raced through his mind, maybe if he ran now, Sirius would cool down and decide not to spank him. Somewhere in his mind another more logical voice snorted, _fat chance_. Harry was broken out of his musings by Sirius' solemn voice resonating from behind the door.

"Don't just stand there, Harry, come in. I know you're out there." Sirius said sternly.

It was with great reluctance that Harry opened the door and entered the room. Dragging his feet, he made his way over to Sirius, who looked up expectantly at the boy and held out his hand. Harry made a face and then handed the brush to Sirius. The man set off to his side, then he looked up and said. "Okay, Harry, first I want to address that little lie you told me when you first woke up." Sirius took out his wand and muttered the mouth washing charm.

Harry gagged as the bitter taste of soap assaulted his mouth. The spell lasted for a full minute before the suds vanished, Harry had tears stinging his eyes and he desperately wanted to rinse out awful taste.

"Now then, I want you to come here and bare your bottom, then we'll begin." Sirius said firmly.

Harry was unnerved, he had never seen Sirius so... well, serious. Looking up with pleading eyes he tried one last effort to mitigate his punishment. "Please? Not bare, I'm sorry. It hurts enough over my pajama bottoms. Please?"

"Harry, this is serious, not only did you disobey me, but you also put your life at risk. You know that endangering yourself earns you a bare bottom spanking with a hairbrush." Sirius looked at the boy intently, the next few moments were critical, he needed to have Harry respect him as an authority figure.

Harry sighed and then lowered his pajama bottoms and draped himself over his godfather's lap, presenting his slightly blushing bottom.

Sirius wanted to get it over with and wasted no time in bringing the brush down with a loud CRACK!

Harry yelped and made to jump out of Sirius' lap. That had hurt!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Sirius was laying down the swats hard and fast. On his already tenderized bottom, it really hurt from the beginning, no slow rising pain. No, this hurt from the very beginning. Harry was in tears by the third swat, it just hurt so much!

"OWWW! I'm sooorrrryyy! Please! It hurts!" Harry cried out, his bottom was on fire!

"Yes ((CRACK!)) that is the ((CRACK!)) point!" Sirius lectured as he continued his assault on Harry's bottom.

Harry was wiggling and writhing frantically, trying to move his burning backside out of the line of fire. It wasn't long before he was sobbing, Sirius was spanking really hard!

Sirius waited until Harry's bottom was a light red before asking, "What is this spanking for?"

"For AHH! disobeying OWWW! you! Please no more! OWWWW! I'm Ow! Sorry!" Harry wailed as Sirius made it so he thought that he would never sit again.

Sirius brought the brush down hard on the writhing bottom. "That's ((CRACK!)) right! I expect you to obey me ((CRACK!)) and not ((CRACK!)) put your life in danger! ((CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!)) That potion is dangerous for children!"

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!  
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

"I'm sooooorrrrrryyyyy!" Harry was wriggled and squirmed frantically, his bottom was an intense ball of fire! He would never sit again! Harry was sobbing hard and went limp over Sirius' lap, his struggles had exhausted him.

Sirius surveyed the state of Harry's bottom, it was a deep crimson. He landed five more hard swats to the boy's sit spot for good measure before setting down the brush.

Harry was crying hard when Sirius stopped and began to rub the boy's back. Sirius waited for the worst of the boy's sobs to subside before pulling the child into an embrace to sit in his lap. Harry clung to his Godfather, his sobs slowing to the occasional sniffle.

Sirius held the boy as if he were a small child, rocking him and whispering assurances. Harry's eyes drooped with fatigue, even though he had just woken up, the meditative trance had given him very little rest. Despite his throbbing bottom, Harry quickly fell asleep in his Godfather's arms.

When Sirius felt the boy's breathing even out, he pulled up the boy's pajama bottoms and slid the boy into his bed. Tucking the child in, he dimmed the lights and closed the door. Despite how terrible it was to punish his Godson, Sirius felt a sense of satisfaction, at least he knew that the boy respected him enough to take his discipline seriously.

Sirius felt the pocket brush moving around, and decided to return it to its owner. With that in mind, he set off for Remus' room.

oOoOoOo

Harry looked at Remus, horrified. "Nooo! Please? I'm sorry!"

Remus shook his head resolutely. "No, Harry, this was serious. You are going to sit at the kitchen table and do the assignment for an hour a week until it's done. You're lucky that it's not a full grounding with bedtime spankings this time."

Harry whined, but privately was thankful that his punishment wasn't as harsh as the time he had snuck into the Malfoy manor. Inwardly, he winced in remembrance of the punishment that had followed. That week had not been fun. This time, Remus wasn't going to spank him again, but had added the assignment of an three foot essay detailing the dangers of taking the animagus revealing potion as well as five hundred lines saying 'I will not disobey my guardians and put myself in danger'. On top of all that he was to do his homework at the kitchen table as well, Harry knew full well that he would be squirming on his very sore bottom for at least a couple days on the hard kitchen chairs.

"You'll start right now, you've finished your homework, right?" Remus asked.

Harry nodded even though he was still putting off his Latin homework. He didn't want to sit on the kitchen chairs anymore than was necessary, he could do his homework later while sitting at his comfortable desk chair.

"Alright then, one hour. Get started." Remus said as he pointed to the waiting parchment and quill. "Do your five hundred lines first, I'll find the books I want you to read on the animagus transformation."

Harry groaned as he sat down at the table. The entire thing had been a bust, he got the feeling that he saw his animal, but he couldn't remember what it was. When he spoke to Sirius the man had pointed out that Harry did not have a stable magical core yet and that could be contributing to the problem. Sirius waved off Harry's concerns stating that the book that they had read when researching the animagus transformation had warned that it was a possible problem. Harry's consciousness was not ready to receive the information, and it would be revealed in a dream when he was ready. Harry pouted a bit that all that hard work and the punishment that followed seemed for naught, since the potion would have probably worked completely had he waited. On the bright side, Sirius had accepted that Harry was determined to become an animagus and promised to train him when his magical core matured. Of course, only after promising severe consequences if Harry attempted the training on his own again.

Remus tapped on the table with his wand, snapping Harry out of his musing.

The man raised an expectant eyebrow and simply inclined his head in the direction of the parchment. Harry sighed and got to work, squirming in his seat as his sore bottom protested being sat on. He had to start thinking before putting himself in danger, Harry thought as he started his lines.

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Author's note: I hope that you all can find sometime to review. It really ups my motivation. Also, if any of you have any ideas for future chapters, I'm open to suggestions (this is not a promise that I will fulfill them though). I think I have about another couple of chapters worth of ideas, and then I will be wracking my brain for more. Feel free to make suggestions in a review, or via PM. I look forward to what you all have to say!_


	7. Who Says Magic Isn't Real? Part 1

**One More Time, With Feeling**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

**Chapter 7**

oOoOoOoOoOo

**Who says magic isn't real?**

oOoOoOoOoOo

Breakfast couldn't start soon enough, Hermione decided. She was bubbling with excitement to start the day. Today was her birthday, and for the first time, she was going to spend it with a friend. As much as she loved her parents, they really didn't make for a fun birthday alone. In years past, the day was a rather subdued affair. Her parents would wish her a happy birthday when she would come down for breakfast, and her Mum would make her favorite breakfast of French Toast with scrambled eggs. If it were a school day, her parents would drop her off like any other day. Her day would proceed like any other day since none of her classmates ever knew it was her birthday, Hermione had never become more than close acquaintances with any of them. That was, until she met Harry. After school, her parents would take her out to her favorite restaurant where the servers would bring out a birthday treat and sing to her. Then when she got home her parents would give her a birthday present. Altogether, birthdays were pleasant, but not something that she particularly look forward to, at least, not like most kids.

Today was different.

Harry had invited her over to his house, and although he didn't know it, he was making it the first birthday that she had ever spent with a friend. She had not felt comfortable telling Harry when her birthday was, she didn't want to test their friendship by implying that he was required to get her a gift. Even still, she was ecstatic that he had invited her over.

Hermione practically inhaled her breakfast and then looked up expectantly at her parents. "Can we go now Mum, Dad?"

The Granger parents shared a look and tried to hide a smile. It was good to see their daughter act like a normal child for once, sometimes, it seemed as if she had grown up too fast, she was very mature for her age. Although they had some reservations about the fact that Hermione's first friend was a boy, they were happy that he had such a positive effect on their little girl.

"Yes, honey, just go grab a jacket and we can go." Emma Granger said with a smile.

Hermione when shooting out of the room to procure the required article of clothing, she returned in only seconds.

"Now can we go?" She asked expectantly.

Dan Granger chuckled at his daughter's enthusiasm, and went to lead the family to the car.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Harry looked out the window for what must have been the 100th time that morning, he knew that it could be another half an hour before Hermione and her family arrived, but that didn't stop him from checking the window occasionally since he woke up.

It was only when he heard a chuckle behind him that he was able to wrench his gaze away from the window.

"Excited much, pup?" Sirius asked as he ruffled his Godson's hair.

"Sirius!" Harry whined as he pulled his head away from its attacker and proceeded to give some semblance of order to his unruly mop.

Sirius gave a wide grin. "Staring out the window isn't going to make them come any faster," he pointed out.

Harry pouted a bit before realizing what he was doing. Pulling in his lower lip and trying to regain at least the illusion of dignity, he glared at his Godfather.

Annoyance tinged his voice as he said, "I know that! I just-"

"Just can't wait, right pup?" Sirius finished for the boy.

Harry crossed his arms and scowled, it may have been true but Sirius didn't have to be so amused!

"Aww, don't be like that Prongslet! I was just teasing you!" Sirius went to ruffle Harry's hair again but Harry dodged out of the way.

"Leave my hair alone! It's messy enough as is!" Harry said irritably.

"Sirius," a tired voice from the top of the stairs called out with exasperation. "Stop antagonizing Harry. Why don't you two go play a quick game? I'll let you know when the Grangers are here."

"But Remus..." Both Harry and Sirius whined simultaneously.

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, sometimes it seemed like he was parenting two children. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a soft chime from the wards, letting them all know that someone was approaching the property.

Even though they spent the majority of their time at Potter Manor, they had purchased a house in London (After retrieving the Horcrux, Sirius burned his childhood home down to the ground) and connected it to the Floo network. It made it easier for school records, and provided a good cover. It didn't have nearly the amount of protections as Potter Manor, but it did have a wide spectrum of wards to protect it. One of them was a proximity alert ward, which let the occupants know when someone was heading to the house with intent to enter.

Harry brightened and hurried to look out the window, upon seeing one of his best friends he rushed to the door only to be stopped by Remus.

"I'll open the door, Harry," Remus explained in response to Harry's questioning look.

"But Remus-" Harry protested.

"No, Harry, just in case, an adult should be the one to open the door." Remus said firmly. "Besides, isn't that normal for Muggle households as well?"

Harry didn't hold back on pouting this time, it may have been true, but Remus didn't have to treat him like a little kid!

At the sound of the doorbell, the pouting child was replaced by an excited one. Harry was practically bouncing with excitement.

Remus opened the door to find a man that he immediately knew was Hermione's father. Looking at him, it was easy to tell where Hermione got her hair from, Remus could tell that it would be rather bushy and untamable if it were any longer.

"Are you Mr. Potter?" The man asked.

A pained expression flitted across Remus' face. "No, but I am one of Harry's guardians." He extended his hand. "Remus Lupin."

"Dan Granger." Dan offered a friendly smile as he shook the other man's hand.

Dan stepped the side. "This is my wife Emma, and my daughter Hermione."

Remus smiled warmly as he looked at the two, and bit back a chuckle at seeing the excited child. He stepped inside and motioned the family to follow. "Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable."

Hermione ran in and practically collided with Harry, who had been rushing to meet them.

After awkwardly avoiding the near collision, Hermione squealed with enthusiasm, "Harry!" She then promptly pulled him into a crushing hug.

Harry, though embarrassed, was pleased that Hermione hugged him. She had not done that yet in this timeline, and Harry had missed the warmth of their relationship.

Harry returned the hug with equal enthusiasm before pulling away, blushing furiously as he caught the amused looks coming from the adults.

"Happy Birthday Hermione!" He said as he pulled out of his pocket a small box and handed it to the gaping girl.

Hermione's jaw dropped a little, she hadn't breathed a word about her birthday! "How did you-"

Harry smiled impishly. "It's a secret!" He couldn't exactly say that he had found out years ago (or was it years from now?)

Hermione let out a huff at the answer before she turned her attention back to the the small box, she looked at it as if it were the most precious treasure. It was her first birthday present that was not from a family member.

"I know that the wrapping is pretty but the inside is even better." Harry said with a cheeky smile.

That snapped Hermione out of her reverie, and she blushed a little as she opened the small package.

Opening the box, she found a silver book shaped locket on a delicate chain.

"Oh Harry, it's beautiful." She tenderly opened the locket to reveal two spots for some kind of picture to be inserted.

"I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure what pictures you would want in it, so I didn't put any." Harry explained as he saw her puzzled expression upon opening the locket. He really wanted to, but knew that he couldn't tell about the full capabilities of the book. The locket could store a single book, once stored, the book would assume the shape of the locket, only to be restored to its full form with a key phrase. Harry had to argue with his guardians to be allowed to give Hermione a magical present. In the end, he won since the locket would not demonstrate its magical properties without the key phrase.


	8. Who Says Magic Isn't Real? Part 2

**One More Time, With Feeling**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

**Chapter 8**

oOoOoOoOoOo

**Who says magic isn't real? Part 2**

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Previously…_

___"I'm glad you like it, I wasn't sure what pictures you would want in it, so I didn't put any." Harry explained as he saw her puzzled expression upon opening the locket. He really wanted to, but knew that he couldn't tell about the full capabilities of the book. The locket could store a single book, once stored, the book would assume the shape of the locket, only to be restored to its full form with a key phrase. Harry had to argue with his guardians to be allowed to give Hermione a magical present. In the end, he won since the locket would not demonstrate its magical properties without the key phrase._

Hermione pulled Harry into another hug. "Thank you, Harry. I love it!" She said, enthusiastically.

Harry grinned widely as he returned the hug. When the two separated, a moment of awkward silence descended upon them before Harry caught sight of Sirius who was grinning widely, amusement apparent in his eyes.

Remembering his manners, he gestured toward Sirius. "Oh, uh... This is Sirius Black, he's my Godfather and guardian. And you've already met Remus Lupin, he's my other guardian." Harry finished up with a gesture toward Remus.

Hermione looked back and forth between the two men as if looking at a puzzle, finally she asked, "Are you, uh, 'special friends'?"

"Hermione!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, mortified.

Harry instantly went red faced from trying to hold in his laughter. Remus blushed furiously, but before he could reply Sirius beat him to it.

"Of course we are! We've been best mates since school!" Sirius stated, puzzled by the question.

Remus shook his head. "No, Padfoot, she means to ask if we're gay."

Sirius looked even more confused. "I guess we are, but what does being happy have to do with it?" He asked.

Harry was silently shaking with laughter when he saw Remus face palm with exasperation.

"No, I mean, do you like each other?" Hermione tried to clarify.

"Of course we like each other, we wouldn't be friends otherwise." Sirius said, still not getting it.

That did it, Harry's resolve was broken down and he dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Remus tried to control his mirth and embarrassment as he clarified. "Sirius, she's asking if we are a couple, meaning that we like each other sexually." He said bluntly, he had forgotten that Sirius was still behind on Muggle euphemisms.

Sirius' face reddened as he nearly shouted out denials. "No, no, no, no! I like girls! Remus and me are just friends!" He was frantically waving his hands at this point.

Harry was rolling on the floor laughing; he had never seen Sirius so flustered.

Hermione reddened at her assumption. "Oh, I'm uh, sorry for assuming, Mr. Black," she said apologetically.

Remus answered for the both of them, "Sirius and I were good friends of Harry's parents, that is why we are raising him together."

Hermione got the message; they were not a gay couple that had adopted Harry. She felt a flush of embarrassment at her mistake.  
Harry had recovered from his bout of laughter and saw that his friend was struggling with the awkwardness of the situation. He grabbed her hand and started to pull her in the direction of his room.

"C'mon, let's go to my room. I have this wicked chess set to show you!" He said excitedly. Remus and Sirius had made him a Muggle chess set that looked like his Wizarding version, it was a set of beautifully carved dragons. They had made it just so that Harry could play with it with any of his Muggle friends.

"Chess? You play chess?" She ask as she allowed herself to be led to the boy's room.

Inwardly, Harry was happy that there was someone he could beat at chess. He had only had Remus to play against since Sirius refused to sit still long enough to play the game. The werewolf always seemed to beat him, even though there were a few close games. He remembered that Hermione was pants at chess, so he was pretty confident he could win.

oOoOoOoOo

"And checkmate." Harry said triumphantly.

Hermione groaned, she knew she wasn't the best at the game, but she thought she could beat Harry.

"Do you want to play another game?" Hermione asked as she started to put away the pieces.

Harry shook his head. "Nah, we won't have time."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Are we going to do something else?"

Harry smiled broadly. "Yeah, we're going to go to an amusement park!"

Hermione squealed and hugged Harry. "Oh, I've always wanted to go to one!"

Harry knew that going to an amusement park was not one of his Hermione's childhood experiences. Although he had always thought that she was more on the practical side, he remembered seeing her one time looking wistfully at an amusement park that they were able to see off in the distance during that year of Horcrux hunting.

He glanced at Hermione and smirked mischievously. "C'mon, I'll race you downstairs!" With that, Harry took off.

Spurred by the challenge, Hermione set off running to catch her friend, totally ignoring the voice that told her that she was being childish.

Although Harry had a head start and was quick on his feet, Hermione quickly caught up to the boy. Hermione was just as quick as Harry but had one very important advantage, her legs were longer and thus her strides were longer as well.

She passed Harry just as they reached the stairs; she turned to give Harry a taunting smile. Unfortunately, that moment of inattention caused her to miss the next step. Much to the horror to her parents who were waiting on the bottom level and Harry, she was falling face first down the stairway.

She closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for impact.

BOUNCE!

Instead of going splat, she bounce a couple times before rolling to a stop against an end table, knocking over the vase that it was holding. The vase fell to the ground and shattered.

All three Granger's took in a nervous breath as they waited for their hosts' reactions.

Harry rushed to Hermione, giddy with excitement. He could tell her about magic now! He put on an impressed face.

"That was wicked, Hermione! Can you do it again?" He said enthusiastically.

"You- I... um, what?" Hermione was totally bewildered, she hadn't expected Harry to act like this.

"That was really cool! How did it feel?" Harry played his part.

"You... You don't think I'm weird!" She asked with uncertainty.

"Of course not! You're a witch!" He said happily.

Hermione's eyes started to tear up at that statement. Harry must hate her now!

"Now see here-" Dan Granger interjected, no one made fun of his little girl!

Harry's eyes widened as he realized how they took his statement. "No, no, no! I didn't say that to be mean! A witch is just a girl that can use magic." Harry waved his hands frantically, trying to placate both father and daughter.

"Magic doesn't exist!" Hermione stomped her foot, tears were streaming down her face.

Harry looked over her shoulder at Remus pleadingly.

"Magic is very real." Remus stated while pulling out his wand. All eyes turned to the werewolf.

"Watch." He turned his wand toward the broken vase. "_Reparo_." He incanted.

To the amazement of the Grangers the vase repaired itself, the end result was a vase that you would have never guessed was damaged in the slightest.

Hermione's jaw dropped slightly. "How-"

"We," Remus gestured toward Harry and Sirius. "Are wizards. We can all do magic. And so can you. Hermione, you just did what we call 'accidental magic'. It is very common for magical children to perform acts of unintentional magic when they are younger."

"So... I can do magic?" Hermione asked, trying to process the concept.

Remus nodded. "Yes, you can, you just proved that. In our world we would call you a witch."

The girl rolled that idea around in her head, she still didn't like being called a 'witch', but if it wasn't just a mean name then she supposed it wasn't so bad.

"So I can do magic, like you just did?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes, eventually. You have to get a wand first, and then you will go to school to learn spells such as the repairing charm." Remus explained.

Hermione's eyes widened. "There's a SCHOOL?" She asked excitedly.

Remus chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yes, you would have been told just before receiving your invitation just after finishing Primary. But since you did magic in front of us, we are allowed to tell you about it. The summer after finishing Primary, you will receive your invitation to attend the school 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'."

Harry could tell that Hermione was bursting with questions, and since he didn't really want to have an impromptu class on the magical world so he decided to head her off.

"Hermione, we could spend hours talking about the magical world, why don't you read a few books about it and then you can ask any questions that you still have." Harry reasoned; he knew that Hermione could never pass over the opportunity to read a good book.

Hermione was torn, on one hand she wanted to know everything right now but on the other hand she knew that books could go into so much more depth than people tended to when giving explanations.

"Besides, we were just about to leave to go to the amusement park. Can't your questions wait until after? There is only so much daylight." Harry couldn't resist, he put on the 'puppy eyes' face that Sirius had taught him.

Hermione caved in at the boy's look. With a sigh, she said, "alright…" Then she pointed a stern finger at his face. "But afterward you are going to tell me more."

Harry nodded enthusiastically, happy that they were still going to go to the amusement park as planned. "Okay! We can even go to our other house and get some books for you to take home. I know this one that I'm sure you will love." He said, smiling inwardly as he thought of 'Hogwarts: A History'.

Hermione brightened at that thought and then had to restrain herself from asking about Harry's 'other house'. After the amusement park she would ask all her questions until everything made sense again.

oOoOoOoOoOo

As soon as the group made it to the amusement park, Harry pestered Sirius to buy them ride tickets. He then made a beeline to the nearest rollercoaster, with Hermione in tow.

As the pair was being secured into the rollercoaster car, Hermione turned to ask, "I've heard about these, but aren't they suppose to be scary?"

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, they're great fun."

Hermione opened her mouth to question the boy further when the ride started. With great nervousness she noted that they were making an ascent up a steep incline. She was just about to ask what would happen next when the car raced down the tracks at breakneck speeds. Her unsaid question soon became screams of fright as she clung to Harry for dear life.

A shell shocked Hermione was lead off the ride by Harry. The boy began to pull her in the direction of the start of the line again when a hand rested on his shoulder.

Harry looked up to see that it was Remus that had stopped him.

"Harry, I'm not sure that Hermione wants to ride the rollercoaster again." Remus said firmly.

Harry blinked, confused. "But she loved it! She was screaming happily and everything!"

This statement snapped Hermione out of her stupor. "HARRY JAMES POTTER! THAT WAS TOO SCARY! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED IN MY LIFE!" She screamed, indignant that the boy had spoken for her.

"But… but, it was a good scary, right? Some people like to be scared." Harry had never really understood that preference but he knew that such people existed.

"Not me!" Hermione said exasperated.

"Why don't you try a calmer ride? Like maybe the Farris Wheel?" Remus suggested.

Harry was about to protest when he saw that Hermione was nodding enthusiastically. With a sigh, he led the way to the Farris Wheel.

Luckily, despite its slow speed Harry found that he wasn't bored. He and Hermione talked about all sorts of things. The subjects ranged from school to things about Harry's life that he wasn't allowed to tell her previously.

After getting off of the ride they met up with the parental units again and the group headed to the food court to get some lunch and ice cream. On the way over, they passed the midway games, Harry made note that Hermione was enamored with one of the prizes. It was a stuffed cat that reminded him of Crookshanks, Harry vowed to get it for her upon seeing the adoring look she was giving the toy.

After they finished their ice cream, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the midway games that they had passed.

Harry put down a pound note. "I'd like to give a try sir." He said to the attendant of the dart game.

As Harry was handed three darts, Hermione realized what he was after. "Harry, you don't have to do this for me."

Harry brushed off her concern. "Nah, don't worry about it, Hermione! This will be a piece of cake!"

It took well over 20 more tries, but the boy was able to win the prize. Seeing the look on Hermione's face as she hugged the plushie made it all worthwhile. Harry had been so caught up in the game that he hadn't noticed until then that Hermione's parents and his guardians had joined them.

Sirius gave him a 'knowing' look, while Remus just looked amused.

"You know, you could have bought at least four of those for the price you paid to win that." Remus pointed out.

Harry responded in the most mature manner that he could think of; he stuck his tongue out at the man.

Dan Granger's eyebrows furrowed as he studied the boy. _Have to watch out for that one!_ Emma was just happy for her little girl; she realized that it was far too early for any kind of romance to be involved.

Unfortunately for Harry, he couldn't convince Hermione to go on any more rides that were fast or spinning. The group watched one of the little shows that the park put on and then left.

After returning to Harry's London house, they did cake and presents. Remus and Sirius had given her books on Astronomy since it was the one subject at Hogwarts that had a Muggle counterpart. Her parents had already given Hermione her present at home.

Finally, with cake and presents out of the way, she started peppering the magical trio with questions about everything and anything magical.

When they reached the subject of books, Harry's eyes widened. "Yes!" He exclaimed to the surprise of the others.

"I can tell you what your locket does now!" Harry said excitedly.

"What it does?" Hermione said, puzzled.

"Yeah, it's magical. It will store a book in it! Say '_Capias Libro'._" Harry explained.

Hermione did as instructed and with a flash of light she found herself holding a book. "Hogwarts: A History." She read the title as she ran her fingers over the book in amazement.

Harry grinned in remembrance to all the times that Hermione had reference to that book. "It tells you all about the school we will be going to after Primary. If you want to store a book just say '_Copia Libro_' while you are wearing the locket." He explained.

Hermione quickly stored the book and then engulfed the small boy in another hug. This had been the best birthday of her life!

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Author's note: Finally this chapter is done! This was the hardest chapter to write, but I knew that it had to be written. Hopefully the next chapter will take less time to come out. I hope you all enjoyed it! Everyone should give a special thanks to Don'tWannaKnowMe for giving me the idea for accidental magic that I needed to progress the chapter. I was kinda stuck since I knew I wanted to reveal magic to Hermione then, but I needed her to do some magic first. Thank you everyone for your reviews, they really motivated me to write more. Please, please review! It really makes me want to write! I swear!_

_03/06/12_

_Thanks to the reviewer Teufel1987 who pointed out that Hermione was bad at chess as well as the fact that she would receive her letter later than her eleventh birthday, I have fixed the mistakes, so now it is more accurate. _


	9. School Daze

**One More Time, With Feeling**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does, I simply play with her world.

**Chapter 9**

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

**School Daze**

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Harry looked down at the end of term report glumly.

Despite starting out the term with good grades, he had quickly grown bored with his classes and as a result had slacked off. Even with the advantage he had of already going through the content his first time around, without studying to refresh his memory he quickly fell in class standing. Thus, here he stood looking at the grades that his lackluster efforts had produced.

His lack of effort had not totally erased the advantage of having already studied the content so he managed to have mostly Bs and Cs, with one exception. Latin. He had never taken a foreign language before, so he hadn't realized that only studying for tests was a very bad thing to do. On top of his poor study habits, Latin was completely new to him so he had no advantages. All those reasons combined were why he was staring dumbly at the 'D' on the paper. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a note for his guardians to arrange a meeting with the Latin teacher.

Harry looked up and with a start, he realized that he had reached his London house already. He sighed and then stuffed the report into his bag then entered the house. He quickly made his way to the house's fireplace, and a pinch of floo powder later found him sprawled on the plush carpet of Potter Manor.

"Bloody floo," Harry muttered under his breath, even with flooing twice a day, he still wasn't used to using the magical transportation system.

"Language, Harry," Remus lightly admonished, Harry could hardly take the man seriously with seeing the laughter in his eyes.

"How come I always land on my arse coming out of those things, but you and Sirius always come out neat as you please?" Harry whined.

"There are a few different tricks that you figure out with enough usage, but most people try thinking of slowing down before they get to the right grate to gain a little more control." Remus explained.

Harry's jaw dropped, was it really that simple? Why had no one told him before?

Harry's musing quickly fled from his mind as he felt himself being bodily lifted and twirled around.

"Prongslet is home! Want to go flying, Harry?" Sirius asked as he set the boy down.

Harry shook his head enthusiastically, lately the weather had been absolutely horrible, but today it looked clear despite being cold. It was great weather for flying.

"Yeah! Let me just go grab my broom," he said as he raced to his room.

"Harry, wait," Remus' voice called after him.

"What?" The boy asked impatiently, he bounced with anticipation.

"Are you finished with your homework? You should really do that first, before flying," Remus said firmly.

"Remus!" Sirius whined, "He can do that later! There is only so much daylight out nowadays."

"Sirius! School is more important than flying!" Remus said sharply.

"It's okay, I'm already done." Harry assured, having lied so many times about his homework, the lie just slipped out without a thought.

"Well, alright then, just be sure to come in before dark," Remus said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mother," he said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Upon seeing Remus' glare, both Sirius and Harry decided to make a hasty retreat.

oOoOoOoOo

Harry realized that he couldn't put it off any longer. On Friday, his Latin teacher had asked about scheduling an appointment with his guardians. Harry knew that if he didn't have some note to arrange a meeting by Monday his teacher might take steps to speak with his Remus and Sirius directly. Harry knew that Sirius would be the most approachable for this kind of subject, he just got the feeling that Sirius didn't care that much about his school performance.

He was just about to knock when he noticed Sirius' door was ajar.

"Hello?" Harry said tentatively as he peered into the room.

There was no response besides Sirius' snores, which could be heard through the door.

_Odd, Sirius normally doesn't sleep past noon except..._ Harry's eyes widened as he realized that the full moon had been last night and both his guardians would be dead to the world until late afternoon. The boy's eyes fell onto the wand that was on the dresser. Biting his lip, Harry wavered. _I could change the progress report AND write a note to my teacher copying Sirius' signature. I just need to use magic..._

Harry shook his head. What was he thinking? Remus would kill him if he got caught. _So don't get caught. _A voice in his head said.

Well, he WAS planning on raising his grades by the time the term ended. Remus would freak out over his poor grades when they weren't even final. He didn't HAVE to know about them if they were brought up by the end of term. In fact, maybe it was better not to get the man so worked up, especially over such a MINOR thing like this.

With that thought in mind, Harry crept into Sirius' room and snatched the wand from the dresser. He hurried to his room where he penned a note and then changed the handwriting and signature to look like Sirius'. Then he changed his progress report, he now had straight As.

With the mission accomplished, Harry slipped back into Sirius' room and returned the wand to its rightful place.

Despite the sense of accomplishment he felt, he had to try hard to ignore the niggling feeling of guilt that was nagging him.

oOoOoOoOo

_**Ring! Ring! Ring!**_

Remus was startled by the noise; until he realized that it was the rarely used phone that was ringing. Hurrying over to the device, he quickly picked it up.

"Hello?" He said tentatively, he couldn't imagine who would be calling.

"Hello, is either a Mr. Sirius Black or a Mr. Remus Lupin available to speak with?" A male voice said through the line.

"This is Remus Lupin speaking." Remus replied.

"Hello, my name is Liam Riley and I am Harry Potter's teacher, I understand that you are one of his guardians?" The man asked.

"Yes..." Remus said, wondering what this was about.

"I just wanted to tell you that we really must meet to discuss Harry's performance in my class. I know that Mr. Black sent a note saying that a meeting was not necessary, but I really must insist." Liam said.

"Note?" Remus asked, confused.

"Yes, today Harry brought a note from his guardian, Mr. Black, saying that he didn't think we needed to meet, despite my note in the report card requesting a meeting." The teacher explained.

"I see." Remus said tightly, he couldn't believe that Sirius would do something like this without consulting him. "When would be the soonest we could meet?"

Suspicion was forming in the teacher's mind on what was going on. "Can you meet today? I have another free period at 1:00."

"We'll be there, which room should we go to?" Remus asked.

"Go to the office and ask to go to the conference room." The teacher instructed.

"Alright, we'll both be there at 1:00." Remus promised.

"See you then." The man replied and then hung up.

Remus seethed as he went in search of Sirius.

"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled as he burst into the garage where Sirius was tinkering with his motorcycle.

Startled, Sirius jumped a little and nearly dropped the wrench he was using. "Merlin's balls, Moony! You scared me half to death! What's wrong?" He asked, as he laid a hand over his chest, as if trying to calm his heart.

All of Remus' pent up frustration came to the forefront. "I can't believe that you would go behind my back and cancel a meeting with Harry's teachers. I know that you don't value the education he is getting because it is muggle-"

"Wait, what?" Sirius was beyond puzzled now. "What are you talking about?"

That stopped Remus' rant, and he studied his friend. Sirius looked genuinely confused instead of the guilty or sheepish look he would have expected to see. Remus' mind started working through the evidence; his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he turned around and made his way to the kitchen.

Remus found what he was looking for on the refrigerator door, he undid the sticking charm on the report card that had been stuck there and studied it.

Remus pointed his wand at the paper. "Finite Incantum."

Instantly, the paper's contents changed. Where the grade's column was once populated with only As, it was now littered with Bs and Cs, with one exception. There, under the grade for Latin, was a bold 'D' and in the notes section was a request to meet with the teacher.

Sirius had followed Remus and watched as Harry's progress report card changed under the spell. He chuckled as he realized what his godson had done. "Sounds like something me or James might have pulled."

A fuming Remus turned toward his friend. "Sirius!" He hissed. "This is no laughing matter, do you know what this means?" He asked as he shook the paper at his friend.

"That Harry hates his useless muggle classes?" Sirius guessed.

"This means that he lied to us. He changed the report card, and he lied to his teacher by forging a note." Remus explained.

"Aww, c'mon, Moony! It's not like anyone got hurt or anything. It's harmless!" Sirius said with an easy grin.

Remus shook his head. "It's not harmless. Sirius, this is a matter of trust. If we can't trust Harry with the little things, how can we ever trust him with something important? And besides that, forging someone's signature is downright criminal."

"But this is just stupid little stuff. Me and James did stuff like this all the time! Besides, it's just a muggle school." Sirius protested.

"You and James had someone to make you tow the line, whether it was Professor McGonagall or Mr. Potter. Do you remember what happened that one time you skivvied off your Friday classes?" Remus questioned.

Sirius winced at the memory. "Don't remind me! My arse still hurts when I think about it."

"What do you think would have happened if Mr. Potter hadn't spanked you and Professor McGonagall hadn't given you a couple of weeks of detentions?" Remus asked, looking pointedly at the other man to prevent him from giving a 'Sirius' answer rather than a serious one.

"Moony!" Sirius whined before he was quelled by the look the werewolf was giving him. With a sigh that was just as much a pout, he replied. "We probably would have skipped classes more often, and maybe we would have failed some classes."

"Exactly!" Remus said. "Harry needs someone to hold him accountable. We both know that Harry is a good person, but that doesn't make him perfect. He may have learned how to be brave and fearless in the face of danger, but he needs more than that. We are not raising a martyr, seeing Harry walk to his death was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen. Harry needs us to help guide him to grow up to be a trustworthy individual. As well as law abiding, if he had done the same in the magical world, the consequences could be more drastic."

Sirius shifted a bit uncomfortably upon hearing Remus' speech. "Yeah, okay, I guess so..." He said dubiously.

"What would James have wanted?" Remus asked as he stared intently into his friend's eyes.

Sirius blew out a breath. "He would have wanted Harry to grow up with the morals that he grew up with."

Remus nodded, satisfied. "Yes, just like what Mr. Potter would have done if James had misbehaved in such a manner."

Sirius looked uncomfortable. "Look, Remus, I won't argue that he has to be punished anymore, but well... Could you take over for this? I don't think I have a lot of credibility for this kind of stuff."

"I already told you I would pick up the discipline if you ever felt uncomfortable." Remus laid a reassuring hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Thanks, Moony." Sirius said, relieved.

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Harry really is a bright student, but it seems that in the last few weeks his motivation has dropped. He started out this term well, he turned in every homework assignment and scored well in every test, but a few weeks in, he started missing assignments. Now, a few missed homework assignments here and there wouldn't affect the grade all that much, but then it got worse. Currently, less than half of his assigned work is up to par, his answers are quite sloppy, and it is obvious that there is a difference between the assignments he takes his time with and the ones that he has probably scribbled on just before coming to class. His grades on his tests have dropped from As to Ds or Fs. I can tell from what he does turn it, that he could do well if he just consistently did his work." Harry's teacher, Liam Riley explained.

"Is there any way for Harry to catch up and pass by the end of the year?" Remus asked. He was fighting not to show the irritation he felt. He KNEW that he asked Harry practically everyday if the boy was done with his homework, and that Harry always answered 'yes'.

Liam looked at the man; he could tell that he cared about the child's education, unlike some other parents that he had seen lately. He decided to give them a chance. "Well... I suppose, if Harry were to redo those assignments that he scored under 50%, I would give half credit. I can assign extra assignments as well. As long he raises his performance for the rest of the year, I don't see why he wouldn't be able to raise his grade to a C or B. But understand, Harry is going to have to work hard for this."

"Could we get a list of the assignments that Harry did poorly on?" Remus requested.

"I can do you one better. Let me go make a copy of the syllabus for the term. I'll mark the assignments that Harry missed. You should be able to monitor from the schedule what work that Harry has for the day." Liam explained, then excused himself to go make the copy.

"What class is this for, again?" Sirius asked, somewhat bored.

"Latin." Remus answered.

Sirius jolted, surprised. "I thought you said it was for his muggle classes? Latin is important in our world!"

"Latin is a subject taught at this school as well." Remus explained.

"It will only help him with spell casting if he knows Latin. I thought he knew this." Sirius said puzzled.

Remus shook his head. "I don't think anyone told him how it relates to magic, we just assumed that he would make the connection."

Sirius sighed. "I guess that will just be one more thing to talk about..."

The rest of their conversation was cut short by the teacher walking back in. After getting the syllabus, they thanked the teacher and made their way home.

oOoOoOoOo

Dinner was a quiet affair. Harry had to struggle to not play around with his food. He wasn't very hungry, guilt took away most of his hunger. He didn't even notice that Sirius and Remus seemed quieter than normal.

Kreacher was clearing the table and Harry asked to be excused.

Sirius and Remus shared a significant glance as Sirius left the table.

"Your teacher had some interesting things to say today." Remus said casually.

Warning bells were going off in Harry's head. "You talked to my teacher?" He blurted out, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Yes, he insisted that we meet with him, in spite of the note that Sirius sent him assuring him that the problem would be dealt with." Remus' voice took on a thoughtful note. "Funny that, Sirius doesn't seem to recall sending him a note..."

Harry's eyes widened. He was soooo busted. He gulped and thought about how he could salvage the situation. "Erm... Well, I-I, uh might know something about that..."

Remus' look turned attentive. "Yes?" He asked, prompting the boy to continue.

"Um, well... I didn't want to disturb you, a-and I swear! I was gonna work harder and raise that grade, so I, um..." Harry trailed off as he studied his empty plate.

"Harry." There was a note of warning in the man's voice that made Harry's stomach flip.

"I... um... IwroteanoteandforgedSirius'signature!" Harry blurted out all in one breath.

"Say that again, slower." Remus' voice held an edge of steel beneath it.

Harry took in a deep breath and summoned up all of his courage. "I wrote a note to my teacher, and forged Sirius' signature." Harry tried desperately to look anywhere than at the werewolf.

"And the report card? It showed you having As in everything." Remus looked intently at the boy.

"I uh, might have changed that, a little..." Harry admitted, squirming in his seat.

"Oh? Do tell, how was it that the D turned into an A?" Remus' voice clearly said that lying now would be a very, very bad idea.

"Erm... I snitched Sirius' wand while he was asleep after the full moon, and used magic to change it." Harry's heart sank as he had to recount his transgressions.

"I see, so you used magic, which you are still forbidden to use, to lie to us by changing your grade. Then you lied when you forged Sirius' signature to write a note to your teacher. Not to mention all the times you lied about having your homework done, when you have only been doing your Latin homework at the last minute half of the time. Have I missed anything?" Remus asked.

Harry's head dropped as Remus listed his crimes, despairing that he would ever sit again.

"Harry, look at me." Remus commanded and Harry reluctantly wretched his gaze at the table to look at his guardian. "You are in deep trouble little boy. You are going to go upstairs and get ready for bed, and then you are going to put your nose in the corner to wait for me. You are going to receive a mouth washing for your lies followed by a rather thorough session with the slipper."

"Not with the brush?" Harry was so surprised that he blurted it out before he could stop himself. He didn't want to give the man any ideas! Still, with as deep in trouble as he was, he thought for sure that he would get it from the dreaded hairbrush.

Remus' eyes softened a little. "The brush we reserve for when you put your life in danger. For now. Although that might change to the belt when you get older."

Harry's eyes widened at the thought of getting spanked with the belt.

Remus sighed. "Much older, like maybe 15 at the earliest, but most likely 16 or 17." He explained.

Harry took the small amount of comfort in that, even though he didn't like the thought of being spanked when he would be that old.

"Now enough stalling, go. You had better be all ready for bed and in a corner in 20 minutes, otherwise I'll double your grounding and add a day to your bedtime spankings." Remus warned.

Harry was off like a shot to go do as he was instructed, even though he wanted to ask about the bedtime spankings. He remembered the last time he had bedtime spankings all too well, that week had been absolutely horrible. He winced in remembrance even as he scrambled to get ready for bed.

Twenty minutes later found the now repentant boy shifting nervously in the corner. With dread, the child heard the telltale sounds of footsteps approaching the door. Even as he heard the door open, he knew better than to turn around.

Harry heard the creaking of the bed alerting him that someone had sat down on it.

"Come here, Harry." Remus said firmly.

Harry reluctantly turned around; his eyes were automatically drawn to the slipper in Remus' hands. He remembered that even with its lightweight, it stung like nothing else. Like a condemned man, he walked over to his guardian.

When the boy was beside Remus, the man pointed his wand at the boy and said the mouth-washing spell.

The bitter taste of soap bloomed in his mouth, and tears sprang to his eyes as Remus lectured.

"I am very disappointed in you, Harry. I expect you to be honest with us at all times. You are going to have to endure that mouth washing spell for five minutes, one minute for all your lies about your homework being done, one minute for changing the progress report and three minutes for forging that note." Remus said, disappointment tingeing his voice.

Five minutes later the spell ended and Harry was allowed to rinse and spit into a conjured glass.

"I hope this is the end of your lying, because that alone would get you a mouth washing and a spanking." Remus warned.

"Yes, sir." Harry said glumly, even though he was able to spit out, most of the taste lingered.

"Now, let's not put this off any longer, bare your bottom and lie over my lap." He commanded sternly.

With great reluctance, Harry obeyed. He pulled down his pajama bottoms and pants and quickly draped himself over the man's lap.

As soon as the boy was situated, Remus brought the slipper down on the unprotected bottom. SLAP!

Harry gasped at the sting of the slipper as the pain blossomed in his bottom.

Remus was laying on the smacks with the slipper hard and fast causing the boy to wiggle and squirm, trying desperately to move his bottom out of the line of fire.

"Owww! Remus, I'm Oww! Sorry!" Harry cried out, tears streaming down his face, his bottom was on fire!

"I certainly hope so! If you were struggling in your classes you should have come to us! We would have helped you." Remus lectured, not letting up in the least.

Harry's legs kicked out with every swat, the sting was even worse than the hairbrush, even if the swats weren't as heavy. Each swat felt like a million hornets were attacking his poor bum.

"I'm sorry! Owwww! Please owie! stop! Owww" The boy broke down in sobs.

"I want you to remember how this feels next time you think to lie to us." Remus said firmly. Lowering one leg and lifting the other brought Harry's sit spot to a very vulnerable position. Remus targeted his next swats on the very place that his charge would remember them the most.

"You ((SLAP!)) Will ((SLAP!)) Not ((SLAP!)) Lie! ((SLAP!))" Remus impressed his point onto Harry's very sore sit spot.

"I w-won't! Owww! I won't lie again! OWWW!" Harry sobbed out, kicking and squirming for all that he was worth, in a vain attempt to alleviate the maddening sting.

"Good!" Remus said as he landed six more powerful swats to the boy's bright red bottom.

By the end of it, Harry had gone limp, sobbing miserably.

Remus rubbed Harry's back until the worst of his sobs had subsided. He then fixed the boy's clothes before scooping him into an embrace.

Harry clung to the man, sobbing out all his feelings of guilt that he had been feeling the past few days. He let those heavy emotions drain from him leaving him feel light and strangely empty.

Remus could sense that Harry was upset over more than just the pain. He whispered assurances into the boy's ear. "Shh... it's okay... All forgiven now."

"Remus? I'm really sorry. I knew better than to lie to you and do all that stuff. I really am a disappointment." Harry said with tears streaming down his face.

"Hey, now. Listen to me, Harry James Potter. You are NOT a disappointment." Remus said firmly. "You may do some disappointing things, but you, yourself are NOT a disappointment."

Harry protested. "But-"

"No, Harry. All children make mistakes, and have to learn from them. Despite any mistakes you have made or will make, I know that you, Harry James Potter, are a good person. You are the person that ran into the girls loo even knowing that a Troll had walked in there, just to save a person that you didn't even know very well at the time. Although I wish you had gotten a teacher, your heart was in the right place." Remus said firmly.

"Sirius and I don't expect you to be perfect, but you certainly know the difference between right and wrong. Harry, you knew it was wrong to lie, change the report card and forge the note, right?" The werewolf looked intently into those brilliant green orbs.

Harry averted his eyes at the intense gaze. "Yeah, I did know. I just didn't want to be spanked." The boy admitted.

"Had you faced the music, you would have gotten off lighter than you did by trying to hide it. I would have still spanked you, but it might have been a hand spanking rather than one with the slipper. And you wouldn't have had the grounding and bedtime spankings you are now going to get." Remus said firmly.

"Grounding? Bedtime spankings?" Harry asked with dread.

"Yes, you are now grounded for the next two weeks, and will have bedtime spankings for the next three days." The man explained. "Harry, you do realize that forging Sirius' signature was a criminal action, don't you?"

Harry's head shot up and his eyes widened. "Criminal?" He squeaked.

"Had the school found out… Well the normal course of action for such an offense would be suspension, but with your earlier suspension for fighting… You would have probably been expelled." Remus said seriously.

"No! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" Harry exclaimed. "I-I didn't think about it that way."

Remus knew that having the school find out about Harry's little forgery could have some grave consequences, but he didn't want to deprive Harry of seeing Hermione every day. He hoped that this punishment would be enough of a deterrent that Harry would never try a stunt like this again.

"Your punishment is so that you really THINK about your actions, and the consequences. You know that had this been the magical world, we would not have been able to be so lenient. The magical world takes oaths very seriously, and by extension forgery is a very serious crime. Your bedtime spankings will be a bit harsher than the last time to reflect this, even if they don't go on for as long. You will receive 10 smacks with the slipper before going to bed for the next three days." Remus said sternly.

Harry looked down, shamefaced and just nodded.

"Since you cannot be trusted to do your homework by yourself, you will now have to keep a daily agenda of your homework, which we will check. I expect honesty, but since you have misused our trust in the past, I might check with your teachers on occasion to make sure you are writing down all your assignments. Do I need to go over what the punishment might be if you are found to be dishonest?" Remus questioned with a hard voice.

Eyes wide, Harry fervently shook his head. He was hurt by the loss of trust caused by his little stunt. He resolved to make it up to his guardians.

"Right then, let's get you into bed, young man." Remus said with a warm smile.

Harry didn't protest at the early bedtime, he knew that whenever he was in trouble he always had to go to sleep early, as part of the punishment he supposed. The boy got into bed, lying on his stomach. Remus went to tuck him in, then sat by him on the bed and rubbed the child's back in comforting circles.

Despite thinking that he would never be able to fall asleep with his burning backside, he soon fell asleep to Remus' ministrations

oOoOoOoOoOo

"Please Remus? Can't I have a cushioning charm for at least when I do my homework? My sore bum makes it hard to concentrate." Harry pleaded.

Remus studied the boy, then relented. Honestly, he wasn't asking for much. "Alright, but you are still writing your 100 lines of 'I will not lie, change official reports, or forge signatures' without the cushioning charm. It is part of the punishment."

Harry, smiled, relieved that he got the small concession. He really didn't want to do all his course work with his sore bum on the hard wooden chair without something to soften things.

"Remus? I don't think I can get top marks in my classes with all the work I've missed." Harry bit his lip, as he asked the question he had been dreading. "Are you- Are you gonna spank me again at the end of the year?"

"Harry, as long as you do your best, I won't punish you." Remus explained. "I don't expect you to be perfect, as long as you have tried your best, that is good enough for me."

Harry was comforted by the sentiment, even as he realized that he would have to change his work ethic somewhat. He knew that he had not been trying his best in his Hogwarts classes, with the exception of perhaps Defense Against the Dark Arts. He knew that his guardians would care about his grades unlike the Dursleys, who would have preferred to see Harry fail.

"Now why don't you get started on your lines?" Remus suggested. "The sooner you get them done, the sooner I will cast the cushioning charm."

With no small amount of reluctance, Harry started his lines.

oOoOoOoOoOo

_Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind reviews, Janie Lucy's in particular helped to motivate me to write more. And she helped me with some of the fine details on this chapter. I had originally not made much note of the fact that Harry forged the note. Janie Lucy pointed out that forgery is a very serious offense. I didn't want to have too much of a fall out of this so Harry probably got of a bit lightly._


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